ViewSonic-backed team wins top honor for 'AI Textbook' innovation at Northwestern Kellogg-McCormick Capstone showcase

ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual and EdTech solutions, proudly supported the 'Top Project' award-winning team at the MBAi+ MSAI Capstone Showcase at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. With ViewSonic's industry insights and technical expertise in AI textbook development, the team produced the AI Textbook Generator — an AI-powered tool that dynamically generates curriculum-aligned content. This achievement highlights AI's growing role in education while reinforcing ViewSonic's leadership in advancing AI-driven learning solutions.

The annual MBAi+MSAI Capstone Showcase at Kellogg challenges students from the MBAi (Master of Business Administration, Artificial Intelligence) and MSAI (Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence) programs to develop real-world, impactful solutions by integrating business strategy and AI technology. This joint degree program offered by Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and McCormick School of Engineering, fosters collaboration between academia and industry, and equips students with the skills needed to drive innovation in the AI era.

"We are proud to support these young innovators and be part of their journey as they leverage ViewSonic's technology to create impactful educational solutions," said Kevin Chu, Chief of Staff at ViewSonic. "This collaboration highlights AI's potential in education while reinforcing ViewSonic's leadership in advancing EdTech innovation. The competition results demonstrate how AI textbooks improve adaptability in the classroom, ensuring knowledge is delivered efficiently and in real-time to meet modern education demands."

"Our goal is to provide students with hands-on opportunities to tackle AI-driven challenges and explore innovative applications," said Andrew Fano, Clinical Professor at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Director of the Kellogg-McCormick MBAi Program. "The AI Textbook project, developed by the ViewSonic-supported team, exemplifies how AI can revolutionize education by enhancing adaptability and personalization. Industry collaboration is crucial in bridging the gap between technology and real-world impact."

AI Textbooks: Transforming Learning with Adaptive Content

Through interviews with teachers and school district administrators, the winning team discovered that traditional textbooks present significant challenges, including outdated content, rigid structures and limited adaptability to evolving curricula. Recognizing these issues, they set out to develop a more flexible, AI-powered solution.

Fergie Liang'24 MBAi, the lead product manager of the winning team, explained: "Many educators we interviewed were already exploring AI tools for lesson planning but lacked an integrated solution to streamline their workflow. With ViewSonic's guidance, we refined our approach and developed an 'AI Textbook Generator', a system that dynamically adjusts to classroom needs, improving lesson planning efficiency and enhancing learning outcomes."

Guided by educator-defined subject matter, complexity and learning objectives, the system dynamically adapts materials in real time to enhance engagement. It personalizes learning by tailoring AI-generated content to each student's progress, while multi-source validation ensures accuracy, credibility and curriculum compliance. By reducing teacher workload and fostering a more engaging and personalized classroom, the system enhances both teaching and learning experiences.