Dominic Maglione found a passion for developing artificial intelligence at Boston University. Now, he’s developing AI for fighter jets.
Originally from Waterford, Virginia, Maglione (CAS’24, GRS’24) is a BA-MS student studying computer science at the College of Arts & Sciences and has focused his work on artificial intelligence. Over the course of his time at BU, he has interned with Shield AI and the US Federal Government, and helped restart BU BUILDS, a student group with a 24/7 “hackerspace,” promoting creativity, ingenuity, and community through personal creative projects and club-hosted events.
Following graduation, Maglione is joining the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he will continue to pursue his work on AI agents for jets. Though his short-term career goals are focused on developing AI and programming, he also aspires to return to the classroom at the university level one day to teach.
Arts & Sciences caught up with Maglione as commencement approaches.
Interview responses have been edited for clarity.
Arts & Sciences: What first got you interested in computer science?
Maglione: When I was younger, I used to play a lot with pieces of hardware. We had this little Toshiba that I would tear apart, this little PC, so I used to be into hardware a lot. As high school went on, I built my own computer, played a lot of games, and started getting into plug-ins and modding. I took a computer science course in high school and I ended up here.
What are some of your specific interests in the field?
I used to be interested in systems-level development, so focusing on how the computer actually works, rather than higher-level abstractions. Now, I’m a lot more interested in games in the context of artificial intelligence. We would look at games like Checkers and Chess and think of how we create agents to solve and learn these games.
What is the best class you have taken at BU?
CS 440 with Lecturer of Computer Science Andrew Wood, 100%. It is exactly what I like about computer science —Introduction to Artificial Intelligence — but he teaches it in the context of a game engine. I believe they are doing Battleship this semester, last semester we made a Chess-bot. For our midterm, there was Tetris. I thought that was a really fun way to go about teaching it, rather than just throwing students into a textbook.
Can you talk about your internship with Shield AI?
Shield AI is a start-up in what is called the “emerging defense tech” space. Think Silicon Valley meets the defense industry. There I was a modeling and simulation engineer. We make AI for fighter jets, fighter jets are expensive, and I can only imagine what the insurance is on those. My team’s job was to simulate our agent on a digital plane to see how it acts and get the data from it.
Can you talk about BU BUILDS?
BU BUILDS is BU Information Lab and Design Space. Not to be confused with the Build Lab. We are the only student-run maker space on campus. We are a group of interdisciplinary students who like to talk tech, build stuff, and hang out. Our goal if anything is to bring students who want to learn more about the field together, regardless of their major. We have a history major, we have political science, and we have physics. The things I’ve learned from the people I’ve met at BU and through that space are invaluable.
Hear more from Maglione about his BU experience in a new Senior Spotlight video.
Interview by Shelby Rose Long (COM’27)