Professors Earn Two Tech Talent Accelerator 3.0 Grants

Two separate $75,000 awards fund distinct initiatives connecting students with employers and real-world AI experience

Key Highlights

• Sacred Heart University received two separate Connecticut Tech Talent Accelerator (TTA) 3.0 Innovation Grants, each worth $75,000, from BHEF and NEBHE
• One grant funds AI TalentBridge, a program connecting students with employer challenge projects and virtual pre-apprenticeships
• The second grant funds the AI Leadership and Organizational Transformation (AI LOT) Lab, which pairs students with nonprofits to apply AI for community impact

Two Sacred Heart University professors have received Connecticut Tech Talent Accelerator (TTA) 3.0 Innovation Grants, each valued at $75,000, from the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) and the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE). Though the grants share a name, they fund two distinct initiatives, each designed to prepare SHU students with the practical, workforce-ready skills that today’s employers increasingly demand.

The TTA 3.0 is a statewide effort to strengthen Connecticut’s technology workforce and keep the state at the forefront of technological change. What sets the program apart is its requirement that higher education institutions partner directly with employers to build new pathways into high-demand fields such as cybersecurity, data analytics, game design, and artificial intelligence.

Sajal Bhatia, a cybersecurity professor and Grace Guo, a management professor and vice president for human resources, were awarded the grants.

Bridging the Gap Between AI Education and the Workplace

The first initiative, AI TalentBridge, is a one-year, SHU-led program housed within the School of Computing & Engineering. It combines AI education with employer-sponsored challenge projects and virtual pre-apprenticeships. Students build foundational AI competencies, then apply them by solving authentic workplace problems in areas such as AI-enabled operations, cybersecurity, risk management, responsible AI, and digital transformation.

“We noticed a growing gap between learning about AI and knowing how to apply it effectively in the workplace,” said Bhatia, an associate professor at the School of Computing & Engineering and leader of the AI TalentBridge initiative. “AI TalentBridge bridges that gap by giving students opportunities to solve real employer problems while developing AI, cybersecurity, communication, problem-solving, and business skills.”

Employers will help identify challenges in areas such as risk management, responsible AI, digital transformation, and workforce productivity. Students will be asked to consider not only the technology itself, but also real business requirements, security concerns, and stakeholder expectations.

“Industry mentors will guide projects, review milestones, and provide feedback on both technical work and professional skills,” Bhatia said. “Students gain something difficult to replicate in a classroom, i.e., direct insight into how professionals solve problems, make decisions, and communicate within real organizations.”

Partnerships with organizations like iQ4, the Cybersecurity Workforce Alliance, and industry partners such as OdysseyRe will further connect students to the professional world.

“AI is becoming a foundational workplace competency, not just a skill for people pursuing AI-specific jobs,” said Bhatia. “Employers increasingly need graduates who can use AI effectively, critically, and responsibly. Knowing how to use an AI tool is not enough. Students need to understand when AI is appropriate, how to evaluate its output, and where human judgment must remain central.”

Turning AI Into a Tool for Community Impact

The second grant operates through the AI Leadership and Organizational Transformation (AI LOT) Lab. With the strong partnership with SHU's Center for Nonprofits, it pairs students with nonprofit organizations, using AI to help those partners better serve underrepresented members of their communities while giving students hands-on experience solving genuine business problems.

“What really caught my eye is the work-based learning approach, where you are working on the project but also embedded in a real working context with real business partners,” said Guo, who leads the AI LOT Lab. “It's a dual impact. First, to help our students, and at the same time, our nonprofit partners are getting recommendations and a playbook as a result. If our nonprofit becomes a better business, they will be in a better position to serve the community.”

The model creates an opportunity for students to learn by solving problems that organizations are facing in real time, while providing those partners with recommendations they can use beyond the project itself.

For Guo, the grant is just the beginning. She hopes the work students and nonprofit partners undertake through the lab will create a model that can grow beyond the initial pilot and eventually reach students across the University.

Guo emphasized that both the technology and the mission remain grounded in human values.

“I think we should embrace AI,” Guo said. “AI is here to stay. However, the challenge is how we turn AI into a work assistant in ethical ways. We still need to hold tight to our leadership, our human side of the business, our critical judgment, our empathy, and compassion. The ultimate AI challenge is a human one. It's not a technological one; it's a human challenge."

Together, the two grants position SHU to bring classroom learning, industry and community engagement, and workforce development closer together. They will offer students concrete projects and competencies to share with prospective employers.