As artificial intelligence continues to be a popular topic, two Elon University students have formed a club to help others explore the technology, with help from an Elon Innovation Grant.
Two Elon University students are working to expand the conversation around AI through the A.I. & E.T. (Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies) Club, an opportunity to enhance student learning and skill-building in AI.
“We both wanted to create a space for like-minded people,” said Joshua Mason ’25, a financial technology major from Cameron, North Carolina. “We like learning about new technologies and it’s hard to find people like us around campus.”
Mason and club co-founder Aaron Satko developed the organization in 2023 with faculty advisor Mustafa Akben, Elon’s inaugural director of AI integration.
“We just saw this new storm that was taking over Elon, education and the world in general and we wanted to bring that to Elon,” Mason said.
Both students started their Elon career as finance majors, but each shifted during their time, Mason moving to financial technology and Satko majoring in computer science.
“With computer science, I can build whatever I want and I wanted to innovate and make new tools that can help others,” said Satko, who is from Lewisville, North Carolina.
In spring 2024, Mason and Satko were one of nine projects awarded an Elon Innovation Grant to help with the club and its efforts, including hosting Hackathons and other events. The Elon Innovation Council provides funding to faculty, students and staff for projects that deepen Elon’s values, intellectual community and great work.
“Elon University strives to be at the forefront of new trends and plans to put students in a space to succeed regardless of the ever-changing world around them. We envision a future where students are not sitting in fear of becoming obsolete by new technologies but rather can harvest them, using them to bring new life into their already imaginative and ever-expanding vision,” wrote Satko and Mason in their grant proposal.
AI continues to be a big issue in higher education – a January survey from Elon’s Imagining the Digital Future Center and the American Association of Colleges & Universities explored how higher education leaders are navigating challenges posed by AI. A March Elon Poll also found that 52% of U.S. adults now use AI large language models like ChatGPT.
Mason and Satko are taking advantage of this new frontier. With their Elon Innovation Grant, the A.I. & E.T. Club hosted an image generation competition in 2024 where students create images around Elon themes using AI generative technology. A campus vote determined the winner. Part of the club’s work is also to help students attend conferences related to AI. In April, they are partnering with Elon’s AI Initiative, alongside Akben and others at Data Nexus for the DataFest 2025 on April 10-14, which will include multiple workshops and challenges centered around AI.
“I’m just excited for the future,” said Mason. “We’ve had some planning for the next semester and making budget requests and people are emailing (us about the club) even over J term.”