FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (WKRG) — Chase Yakaboski, native to Fort Walton Beach, has earned a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to Austria in Artificial Intelligence.

Yakaboski will travel to Austria in early 2021 to study the intersection between artificial intelligence and music.

Yakaboski graduated from Fort Walton Beach High School and earned his undergraduate degree in Physics from U.C. Berkeley in 2014. He currently attends Dartmouth College in an effort to earn his PhD.

“It’s an amazing honor to earn this research opportunity combining art (music, theater) and science (artificial intelligence, machine learning) — the subject I plan to further study as my PhD topic,” said Chase Yakaboski. “Most importantly, the Fulbright gives me the opportunity to work with a world-renowned expert, Dr. Gerhard Widmer, in applying machine learning techniques to music applications. Combining his mentorship with the continued support of my Dartmouth College PhD advisor, Dr. Eugene Santos, Jr, and his expertise in Artificial Intelligence, I believe we can make significant progress in studying human expression through computation.”

Those who are selected must meet certain academic and professional criteria, as well as have a record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields.

“Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given more than 390,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns,” say the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs.

Fulbrighters have gone on to do amazing things and achieve great acclamation for their work in international affairs. 59 were awarded the Nobel Prize, 84 who received Pulitzer Prizes, and 37 served as a head of state or government.

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