The Tech for Humanity Lab blog is comprised of research and general interests posts from lab students and faculty.
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Reflections on The Atlantic Council’s Cyber912 Strategy Challenge
By Ethan Dettman and Halima Binte Islam Special thanks to the Hume Center for National Security and Technology for providing financial support to our team. Introduction During the first weekend of March, we had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the Cyber912 Strategy Challenge. Hosted by the Atlantic Council, the event saw 40 teams from 36 schools…
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To What Extent Do Different Countries Facilitate the Illicit Sale of Cocaine to the United States on the Dark Web?
By Nolan Russell and Emma Shanahan The trafficking of drugs through dark web markets has become very common. To access the dark web, users use the TOR browser, which encrypts the user’s traffic through three random nodes to hide any identifying information, such as names or IP addresses. This allows anyone visiting the dark…
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Digital Evidence Chains in the Legal System
By Ishaanvi Saini Abstract Digital evidence has become a pivotal point in modern legal proceedings, influencing verdicts in criminal investigations and civil litigation. Courts are increasingly dependent on data from surveillance systems, mobile devices, and algorithmic tracking tools. Digital evidence chains are critical for establishing the authenticity and subsequently the admissibility of digital artifacts into criminal…
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Kenya and Nigeria: A Critical Analysis of Cybergovernance
By Cristalia Laing Abstract Nigeria and Kenya are the among the first African states to develop legislative frameworks that address the rise in cyberthreats. While innovative, they have been documented to have implementation gaps that weaken state protection of free expression, privacy, and other civil liberties. This paper is a comparative analysis of Kenya and…
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Will AI Replace Human Programmers?
By Andrew Brantly My name is Andrew Brantly, and I am 14 years old. I am a freshman at Blacksburg High School. I am currently taking AP Computer Science A. In this class, I am learning to program in Java. We started with the basics, including the “Hello World” code snippet that defines every…
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The Practical Imperative of European Digital Sovereignty
By Aaron Brantly The election of Donald Trump to the Presidency in the United States and the subsequent policy positions espoused by his administration should constitute a wake-up call to the entirety of Europe on the importance of quickly and effectively establishing digital sovereignty. Where once the United States sought to work within an…
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An Overview of the U.S. Immigration Surveillance Infrastructure
By Brooke Spens, Ishaanvi Saini, Abigail Yared, and Halima Islam Abstract In recent months, the proliferating surveillance capabilities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have made headlines ranging from the alleged use of cell-site simulators to Palantir data mining systems. Surveillance technologies contracted and deployed by ICE extend beyond typical immigration enforcement with…
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Open-Source Hearing Aids: A Look into the Future of Medical Technology and Coding
By Brooke Struyk Edited by Nataliya Brantly Abstract: Hearing loss affects a large portion of the global population, yet the prices for hearings aids continue to increase. With quality devices costing an upwards of $2000 per pair, and lasting between three to seven years depending on the model, access to these technologies has become…
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Healthcare in Wartime Ukraine
Nataliya D. Brantly, PhD Abstract This blog post shares reflections from my recent trip to Ukraine (2025), where I conducted interviews and gathered data in Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, and several surrounding communities. I spoke with health care providers and patients to understand their perspectives on the state of Ukraine’s health care system, the impact of…
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Implementing AI in Music Recommenders and ethical concerns
By Kat Patten Abstract In 2022, the widespread use of generative AI has increased and since then it has been incorporated into our everyday lives. Not only can AI be used to look up simple questions, but it can be used to aid specific areas such as questions within a company, exercise tips, and…