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Vidya Bommanapally, UNO Ph.D. Candidate, Honored as 2026 Nebraska Tech Innovator of the Year

Bommanapally was honored as Nebraska Tech Innovator of the Year for her early career promise and contributions to developing impactful technology.

  • published: 2026/03/23
  • contact: Yahya Shema - College of Information Science and Technology
  • email: yshema@unomaha.edu

Vidya Bommanapally, a Ph.D. candidate in Computing and Information Science at the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO), was recently named the 2026 Nebraska Tech Innovator of the Year at the 2026 Women in Tech Annual Summit organized by the Aksarben Foundation's Nebraska Tech Collaborative.

The award recognizes Bommanapally's cross-domain research and innovation work spanning health AI, education, and materials science—contributions that demonstrate extraordinary promise early in her career. As noted on the Women in Tech official website, the award celebrates those whose "creativity and ingenuity lead to groundbreaking technologies that solve complex problems and drive meaningful progress in their field."

"I would like to thank my advisors and colleagues for their continued support and guidance," Bommanapally said. "I thank the UNO College of Information Science & Technology for creating a supportive environment for students to grow. I am grateful to the Aksarben Foundation for its vision and for encouraging and supporting women in technology."

To learn more about the Women in Tech Summit, visit https://aksarben.org/women-in-tech-summit/#awards