AI-Powered Canvas Tool Takes First Place in SMU Showcase
Lyle Senior Instructional Designer Prerna Munoth wins the SMU Technology Showcase for a tool that helps create Canvas rubrics and quizzes in minutes, not hours.
Prerna Munoth, Senior Instructional Designer with the Lyle School of Engineering, celebrates a first-place win at the 2026 SMU Technology Showcase for her project, “From Hours to Minutes: Canvas Rubrics and Quiz Creation with AI.”
The annual showcase, hosted May 6th by SMU’s Office of Information Technology (OIT), centered this year’s event on advancements in artificial intelligence, offering faculty and staff the opportunity to highlight the latest innovations using AI in their research, instruction, and professional practice.
For Munoth, artificial intelligence technology provides a welcome aid to a challenge many, including herself, have faced — digital course creation that is both tedious and time-consuming. Her efforts culminated in the creation of an AI-powered tool that promises to simplify and accelerate instructional design tasks, like creating rubrics and formatting quizzes, on the campus-wide teaching platform, Canvas.
“This project came about from a very practical challenge I encountered repeatedly in course development work,” Munoth explained. “Creating Canvas-compatible rubrics and quiz imports was time-consuming and often frustrating.”
Her tool helps streamline Canvas course design to ensure instructors can focus their efforts where they’re needed most, even if they are not familiar with artificial intelligence.
“I wanted to explore how AI could reduce workload in a way that was accessible even for people without technical expertise,” Munoth explained. “Instead of spending hours manually formatting files, the AI tool automates repetitive steps so faculty and instructional designers can spend more time focusing on teaching and learning.”
For Munoth, the recognition speaks not only to the impact of her work campus-wide, but also to the growing role of AI in assisting instructors and professionals: “Receiving first prize at the SMU Technology Showcase was incredibly meaningful, because it validated the idea that AI can be used thoughtfully to support educators and improve workflows.”
“My hope is that this work helps educators save time, reduce administrative burden, and empower faculty and staff to use AI in meaningful ways.”
Please join us in congratulating Prerna Munoth on this incredible achievement. We at Lyle look forward to the progress and perspectives this tool, and others like it, will bring for students, educators, and the university as a whole.
About the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering
SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering thrives on innovation that transcends traditional boundaries. We strongly believe in the power of externally funded, industry-supported research to drive progress and provide exceptional students with valuable industry insights. Our mission is to lead the way in digital transformation within engineering education, all while ensuring that every student graduates as a confident leader. Founded in 1925, SMU Lyle is one of the oldest engineering schools in the Southwest, offering undergraduate and graduate programs, including master’s and doctoral degrees.
About SMU
SMU is the nationally ranked teaching and research university in the dynamic city of Dallas, and a member of the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference. SMU’s alumni, faculty and more than 12,000 students in eight degree-granting schools demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit as they lead change in their professions, communities and the world.