After a successful milestone summer, the Human-Centered Operations Research and Engineering program, known as H-CORE, is returning to Clemson University for Summer 2026.
by Kathy Snipes May 1, 2026
H-CORE is a 10-week National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. The program brings students to Clemson to explore research at the intersection of humans, systems and analytics. This summer’s program will run from May 18 to July 24, 2026, with students selected for the program participating in hands-on research projects, professional development activities, mentorship and a final research seminar.
Designed to prepare undergraduate students for interdisciplinary, human-centered research, H-CORE combines operations research and human factors methods to study complex systems in ways that account for both analytical decision-making and the human experiences within those systems.
The 2026 H-CORE program is led by Dr. Thomas Sharkey, Dr. Jessica Avilés, and Dr. Emily Tucker. Students selected for this summer will work on one of three research projects led by Clemson IE faculty mentors.
Summer 2026 Research Projects
One project, led by Dr. Sudeep Hegde, will focus on human-AI teaming to support adaptive performance in healthcare systems. Students will explore how people and artificial intelligence can work together more effectively in complex healthcare environments, with an emphasis on decision-making, teamwork and technology that supports human expertise.
A second project, led by Dr. Thomas Sharkey, will examine survivor-centered analytics to help disrupt the harm caused by sex trafficking. Students will learn how mathematical modeling and analytics can be used in ways that center the experiences and needs to survivors while helping identify approaches to disrupt trafficking networks and support long-term healing and recovery.
A third project, led by Dr. David Neyens, will study statistical analysis and large language models for effective health literacy. Students will investigate how interactions with tools such as ChatGPT and Claude may affect health education and decision-making, with a focus on how language models can influence health-related understanding and outcomes.
A Full Summer Research Experience
In addition to their research projects, H-CORE students will participate in weekly professional development discussions, mentorship meetings and visits to Clemson research centers and labs. Planned professional development topics include research-related skills, preparing for graduate school and industry careers, technical communication, resume preparation and conversations with current graduate students.
The program also emphasizes mentorship throughout the summer. Each student will be supported by a faculty research mentor, an REU leadership mentor and a graduate student mentor, creating a layered support system for research, professional development and personal growth.
At the conclusion of the program, each project team will present its research to the Clemson Ie community, including faculty and graduate students.
Through H-CORE, Clemson IE continues to support undergraduate research experiences that reflect the department’s strengths in human-centered systems, operations research analytics, healthcare, social impact and interdisciplinary engineering research.
Learn more about the H-CORE program.
