Team HAX Lab Wins National AI Innovation Challenge

Team HAX Lab members (from left) Jaden Reeves, Osita Odunze, Daniel Onyejiekwe and Fikewa Akindolire earned first place in the 2026 PROPEL Center Future of Tech Innovation Challenge for developing SocialSense AI, a privacy-focused application designed to help users improve communication skills and manage social anxiety.

Team HAX Lab, a group of Morgan State University students mentored by Naja Mack, an assistant professor of computer science and core faculty member of the Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society (TRAILS), captured first place in the 2026 PROPEL Center Future of Tech Innovation Challenge.

The team earned national recognition and a $35,000 grand prize for SocialSense AI, an application designed to help users manage social anxiety and improve communication skills through personalized feedback and insights.

Competing against students from historically Black colleges and universities across the country, Team HAX Lab distinguished itself with a privacy-first approach to artificial intelligence. The winning team included Osita Odunze, Jaden Reeves, Daniel Onyejiekwe and Fikewa Akindolire, who developed the project through Morgan State’s Human-AI eXperience (HAX) Lab.

As the lab’s director and faculty adviser, Mack (pictured far left) guided the students throughout the competition, helping them refine the concept and develop it into a working prototype. Her research focuses on human-centered artificial intelligence and the ways AI systems can be designed to better serve the people who use them.

According to Morgan State, SocialSense AI analyzes conversational interactions using data from personal devices and provides users with individualized feedback while keeping sensitive information on the device rather than relying on cloud-based storage. The emphasis on privacy and user control helped set the project apart in a competition focused on using technology to address real-world challenges.

The achievement reflects the growing strength of Morgan State’s AI and computing programs and highlights the value of hands-on learning opportunities that allow students to apply technical knowledge to practical problems. For Team HAX Lab, the competition provided an opportunity to transform an idea into a fully developed solution while gaining experience in product development, collaboration and innovation.

The team’s success also underscores the importance of research environments such as the HAX Lab, where students work alongside faculty on projects exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and human experience.

Several members of Team HAX Lab have participated in TRAILS-supported programs, gaining additional research experience that contributed to their development as emerging AI innovators. Morgan State is one of four core institutional partners in TRAILS, an NSF-funded institute dedicated to advancing trustworthy artificial intelligence through research, education and community engagement.

Read Morgan State’s full story: “They Built the Future—and Won: Morgan Students Capture National AI Innovation Title.”