About FLAIR UC

Fuzzy researchers supporting fuzzy researchers.

FLAIR, the Fuzzy Cats, is a registered student organization at the University of Cincinnati for anyone interested in fuzzy logic and explainable AI.

Who we are

The labs do the science. FLAIR builds the community around it: we raise funding, organize events and send students to the conferences where fuzzy logic moves forward.

We started at UC, alongside the Digital Futures AI Bio Lab, and we are open to students and researchers from any field and any university.

Mission

FLAIR raises public awareness of fuzzy logic and explainable AI. We sponsor fuzzy logic travel, host hackathons, and build a community that grows fuzzy logic in Cincinnati and around the world.

Vision

An explainable AI-first world, where every AI system that touches people's lives can be understood, trusted, and certified. FLAIR makes Cincinnati a home for the fuzzy logic researchers building it.

Goals for 2026-27

01
Fall 2026
Start fundraising
Donor tiers live, outreach started, first pledges in toward our $40,000 goal.
02
Fall 2026
Be loud
Social accounts live and weekly posts, so more people hear about fuzzy logic.
03
Fall 2026
Strong foundation
Officer charters set, committees staffed and processes written down.
04
Spring 2027
Events and community
Socials, hands-on workshops and the Kessler Challenge.
05
2026-27
Bari 2027
Send 15 to 20 students to the IFSA 2027 congress in Bari, Italy.

Meet the founding exec

Seven officers, elected by members on September 28, 2026.

Fuzzy President
Haidar Bin Hamid
Haidar is a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at UC, working in Dr. Kelly Cohen's AI Bio Lab on explainable AI and interpretable fuzzy inference for wearable devices that monitor neurodegenerative disease. He holds a master's in AI Engineering from UC and leads FLAIR as its president, bringing explainable AI researchers together. He is also founder and CEO of Xtainable LLC, whose product EXI (Explainable Executive Intelligence) gives auditable decision support to regulated fields such as healthcare, finance and government.
binhamhr@mail.uc.edu
Fuzzy Vice President
Hugo Henry
France
Hugo is a PhD researcher in Artificial Intelligence and Aerospace Systems at UC, building explainable AI and genetic fuzzy systems for safety-critical aerospace decisions. Before his doctorate, he verified embedded engine control software at Safran Helicopter Engines and supported qualification testing of the Rafale mission system at Sopra Steria Aeroline. He holds a dual master's in avionics and international aerospace engineering from the University of Bordeaux and won the 2026 NAFIPS Outstanding Student Paper Award.
henryho@mail.uc.edu
Fuzzy Treasurer
Cleopatra Douglas
Cleopatra is a PhD student in Aerospace Engineering at UC, working in Dr. Kelly Cohen's AI Bio Lab on explainable AI and interpretable fuzzy inference systems that bring safety-critical engineering methods to high-stakes financial decisions. She holds a master's in Computer Science from Northeastern University and a bachelor's in Mathematics. She is co-founder and CEO of Recital Finance, an agentic financial operations startup built on transparency and human accountability, and works toward AI that financial institutions can trust, audit and deploy responsibly.
douglac9@mail.uc.edu
Fuzzy Secretary
Lohith Srikanth Pentapalli
Lohith is a PhD candidate in Aerospace Engineering at UC who builds explainable AI for cybersecurity, turning opaque machine learning models into auditable tools that surface threats early. His explanations are designed to be faithful and attack-resistant, so analysts can rely on them during incident response and regulatory review. He also develops verifiable, human-aware autonomous agents that combine uncertainty estimation, causal reasoning and safety guardrails, and hand control back to people when it matters.
pentapls@ucmail.uc.edu
Fuzzy Fundraising Chair
John Cavanaugh
John is a PhD student in the UC AI Bio Lab who builds privacy-by-design AI systems rooted in explainability and human accountability. He co-founded and led Plunk Student Community for nine years, then spent five years as Executive Director of the Plunk Foundation, whose consent-first digital safety technology served 30 million children, women and veterans. He serves on nonprofit, civic and technology boards and advises organizations on responsible AI, privacy strategy and ethical leadership.
cavanajn@mail.uc.edu
Fuzzy Marketing Chair
Elizabeth Uhl
Elizabeth is a master's student in AI Management at UC's Lindner College of Business, graduating in spring 2027, with a focus on responsible and ethical AI implementation. As an AI Agent Intern at UC, she helps build personalized tutoring agents on UC's generative AI platform that help students engage and learn rather than treat AI as an answer machine, work that won the Outstanding Presentation Award at the 9th Annual LT@UC Conference. She earned her MBA from UC after studying Marketing and Music at Wittenberg University, where she also competed on the women's varsity golf team.
uhlec@mail.uc.edu
Fuzzy Events Chair
Tri Nguyen
Tri is a PhD student in Aerospace Engineering at UC, researching explainable AI for clinical decision support and other safety-critical applications. In his first year he authored four papers at the 2025 Joint IFSA/NAFIPS Conference, earning the Outstanding Paper Award, the Outstanding Student Paper Award and an Honorable Mention. He completed his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering at UC with a 3.98 GPA and is working toward interpretable AI that can be responsibly deployed in clinical care.
nguye3hr@mail.uc.edu
KC
Fuzzy Faculty Advisor
Dr. Kelly Cohen
Digital Futures AI Bio Lab, University of Cincinnati
cohenky@ucmail.uc.edu