CEC Communications

Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers honors two 911�� professors

tdonnel — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:05:45 +0000

Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers honors two 911�� professors tdonnel Wed, 10/14/2026 - 11:05

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Faculty in 911��’s Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research (SEOR) continue to gain national recognition for excellence in research, teaching, and professional leadership. This year, two faculty members received major honors from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), one of the field’s leading professional organizations.

Lizhi Wang Named IISE Fellow

Lizhi Wang, professor of bioengineering and systems engineering and operations research, was selected as a 2026 IISE Fellow, one of the highest distinctions awarded by the organization. The honor recognizes outstanding leaders whose nationally recognized contributions have advanced the industrial and systems engineering profession.

Lizhi Wang. Photo provided.

Wang joined 911�� in 2025. Throughout his career, he has applied systems engineering principles to complex challenges in agriculture, environmental systems, animal health, and human health. His research integrates mathematical modeling, optimization, and data-driven methods to better understand and improve biological systems.

His work has led to innovations in crop production, livestock management, and digital twin technologies, including the co-founding of agricultural technology companies that help growers improve yields while reducing resource consumption. More recently, Wang has focused on using physiology-based models to better understand the human heart and support advances in disease prevention and healthcare.

In addition to his research achievements, Wang has demonstrated extensive service to IISE, including editorial leadership, participation in professional divisions and boards, and mentoring future faculty through the organization’s Future Faculty Fellows program.

Shima Mohebbi Receives IISE Sustainable Development Teaching Award

Associate Professor Shima Mohebbi was honored with the 2026 IISE Sustainable Development Division Excellence in Teaching Sustainability Award. The award recognizes exceptional educators who advance sustainability principles through innovative teaching, applied learning experiences, and student engagement.

Shima Mohebbi. Photo provided.

Mohebbi’s teaching and research focus on resilient and sustainable infrastructure systems, data-driven decision making, optimization, and artificial intelligence applications for complex engineering challenges. Her work connects systems engineering with pressing societal issues, helping students understand how engineering methods can support sustainability, resilience, and informed decision making.

A nationally recognized scholar and educator, Mohebbi has earned numerous honors for both research and teaching and has held leadership roles within IISE, including service as president of the organization’s Modeling and Simulation Division. The teaching award highlights her commitment to preparing the next generation of engineers to address sustainability challenges through systems thinking and analytical problem-solving.

Together, these distinctions reflect the growing impact of SEOR faculty on the industrial and systems engineering profession through innovative research, outstanding teaching, and dedicated service to the field.

Topics

Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Faculty and Staff News

911�� researchers bolster flood resilience of Virginia towns

tdonnel — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 16:43:28 +0000

911�� researchers bolster flood resilience of Virginia towns tdonnel Mon, 10/12/2026 - 12:43

In This Story

Celso Ferreira

For residents of Waverly and Jarratt in southeastern Virginia, flooding is an increasingly frequent concern. Intense rainfall, aging drainage infrastructure, low-lying terrain, and unpredictable weather patterns threaten homes, businesses, and public safety. 911��’s Celso Ferreira, a professor of civil, environmental, and infrastructure engineering and director of the Flood Hazards Research Lab, is working to improve the towns’ flood resilience.

Ferreira's project builds on his long-standing work partnering with local governments to apply advanced flood modeling, hazard assessment, and resilience planning tools to real-world community challenges. This project grew from a partnership with the Crater Planning District Commission and the Virginia Climate Center.

Through his research and teaching, Ferreira has created opportunities for students and researchers to provide technical expertise that many smaller communities would otherwise struggle to access. His work combines engineering analysis, data-driven decision making, and community engagement to help local leaders identify vulnerabilities and prioritize solutions.

Cars in a flood. Adobe Stock.

"Communities like Waverly and Jarratt are facing increasingly complex flood challenges," said Ferreira. "Our goal is to provide science-based information that helps local leaders understand their risks and make informed decisions about protecting residents, infrastructure, and economic activity."

The initiative will leverage cutting-edge hydrologic and hydraulic modeling techniques to evaluate flood hazards under a range of conditions. The resulting analyses can help communities identify areas most vulnerable to flooding, assess the effectiveness of mitigation measures, and develop strategies that improve long-term resilience.

For 911��, the effort reflects a broader commitment to applying research expertise to statewide challenges. As Virginia experiences growing pressure from extreme precipitation events, climate variability, and expanding development, engineering solutions are important for safeguarding communities and critical infrastructure. The College of Engineering and Computing is advancing research that not only expands scientific understanding but also delivers practical benefits across the commonwealth.

"Engineering research should create measurable impacts in people's lives," Ferreira said. "By working directly with communities, we can translate advanced modeling and analysis into tools that support better planning, stronger infrastructure, and safer neighborhoods."

The partnerships with Waverly and Jarratt also demonstrate the value of university-community collaboration. Through these relationships, 911�� researchers bring innovative technologies and specialized expertise to local governments while gaining insight into the practical challenges communities face.

"Flood resilience is not just about responding to the next storm," Ferreira said. "It's about helping communities prepare for the future, adapt to changing conditions, and build confidence that they can withstand and recover from flood events."

As the project moves forward, Ferreira and his team aim to provide Waverly and Jarratt with actionable knowledge that supports long-term resilience. The work exemplifies 911��’s mission to serve Virginia through research, innovation, and partnerships that address some of the commonwealth's most pressing challenges.

Topics

Sustainability

civil engineering; stormwater infrastructure; climate variability

Research

GCI-Climate

Unlocking value from silicon-rich waste with help from biology

tdonnel — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 17:20:34 +0000

Unlocking value from silicon-rich waste with help from biology tdonnel Mon, 10/05/2026 - 13:20

Mine tailings and other silicon-rich wastes may look like materials with little value left. But locked within their tough mineral structures can be valuable elements and resources that are difficult—and often energy-intensive—to recover.

Mine tailings, one of the silicon-rich waste streams being considered in the project. Photo: U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain.

As part of a newly funded National Science Foundation collaborative research project, 911�� researchers are exploring whether nature can offer a different way to unlock those resources.

“Many of these materials still contain valuable resources, but they are locked inside very stable silicate structures,” said Xijin (Emma) Zhang, an assistant professor in 911��’s Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering. "We would like to explore alternative and sustainable ways to break down these materials and recover what is valuable from them."

Silicon is the second most abundant element in Earth’s crust and is a major component of minerals in rocks, mine tailings, concrete, and many industrial materials. Yet breaking down these stable silicate structures can require high temperatures, substantial energy, or highly corrosive chemicals. Zhang and her collaborators are investigating whether biological processes can accomplish some of these transformations under much milder conditions.

Xijin (Emma) Zhang. Photo provided.

The effort brings together researchers from five institutions, including 911��, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the University of Maryland, the University of California San Diego, and University of Massachusetts Amherst. By combining expertise in engineering, biology, geochemistry, and materials science, the researchers hope not only to develop new approaches for processing silicon-rich materials, but also to establish a new interdisciplinary field they call “Si-X TechnoBioGeoChemistry.”

At 911��, Zhang is working with Monique Van Hoek, a professor in the School of Systems Biology in the College of Science, to explore how microorganisms and the molecules they produce interact with silicate minerals. The collaboration brings together biological and engineering perspectives to better understand how natural processes can be harnessed to transform materials that are otherwise difficult to break down.

Monique Van Hoek. Photo: Creative Services, Office of University Branding.

The project builds on Zhang’s years of research in biomineralization. After studying calcium-based biomineralization during her PhD work, Zhang expanded her work to silicon-rich materials while continuing to explore how biological systems can reshape materials in sustainable ways.

The researchers are especially interested in waste streams such as mining residues, demolished concrete, and industrial byproducts. Rather than viewing these materials simply as waste to be managed, the team sees them as potential resources. According to Zhang, these materials often contain valuable elements trapped within strong silicate matrices, while the silicon-rich material itself may also have potential for reuse.

"We can turn these waste resources into useful material, and that can first create new value, and second, reduce some waste and reduce some management cost associated with the waste," she said.

Zhang's lab is developing bio-enabled methods to break down and transform silicate materials under mild conditions. They are investigating how microorganisms, biological molecules, and other nature-inspired processes can replace or complement conventional approaches that rely on extreme temperatures and harsh chemicals.

"We're focusing on how to use sustainable and bio-enabled pathways to break these waste materials down in a low-energy and low carbon–emission way,” Zhang said. “At the same time, we want to understand how we can release valuable components and make the remaining materials useful again."

Silica-based skeletons in glass sponges. Photo: Randolph Femmer/USGS, Public Domain.

The approach could open new pathways for using resources recovered from silicon-rich waste. Silicon-containing materials produced through these processes could potentially be reused in a wide range of applications, including new cement and concrete materials, glass products, electronic technologies, while valuable elements released from the silicate matrix could contribute to the recovery of critical minerals. During the initial two-year phase, researchers will investigate the fundamental biological, chemical, and geological processes that control these transformations and evaluate the feasibility of the overall approach. Those findings will help the team identify the most promising directions for future development.

Beyond the scientific advances, the initiative will provide interdisciplinary training opportunities for graduate students and researchers working across traditional disciplinary boundaries. By bringing together biology, geology, and engineering, Zhang and her collaborators aim to rethink how society extracts value from secondary resources and how materials now considered waste might become resources for the next generation of technologies.

This research supports the Grand Challenge Initiative's goal of building a more climate-resilient society.

Discover more GCI climate research >>

Learn about other solutions >>

911�� is one of the first 14 institutions to receive Carnegie's new classification for sustainability. Read More >>

In This Story

Emma (Xijin) Zhang

Topics

Sustainability

Department of Civil Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering (CEIE)

School of Systems Biology

Systems Biology

Research

College of Engineering and Computing

College of Science

GCI-Climate

911�� showcases data center research leadership to Japanese delegation

tdonnel — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 19:39:52 +0000

911�� showcases data center research leadership to Japanese delegation tdonnel Tue, 09/15/2026 - 15:39

As part of an international mission focused on data center technology, infrastructure, and supply chain opportunities in Virginia, 911�� welcomed a delegation of nearly 50 Japanese business leaders to Mason Square in Arlington. The visit was organized by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in collaboration with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, and the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance.

The delegation, which included representatives from 40 companies and nine JETRO staff members, spent the morning exploring Northern Virginia's renowned "Data Center Alley" in Loudoun County, the world's largest concentration of data centers and a critical hub for global internet traffic. The tour highlighted the infrastructure, power systems, and connectivity that established Northern Virginia as a leading center for digital infrastructure investment.

JETRO delegation at 911�� Mason Square. Photo provided.

In the afternoon, the group visited the Mason Square, where Liling Huang, associate professor and director of energy-related research initiatives, led tours of the university's advanced research facilities. During the visit, attendees explored the E2 Center, which features education and simulation capabilities related to small modular reactors, and the Smart Grid and Renewable Energy Lab, where researchers are advancing work in power systems, grid modernization, energy protection, and renewable technologies.

Delegates also received an overview of 911��'s developing AI Data Center Research Lab and its focus on next-generation power infrastructure and energy systems for artificial intelligence applications.

“Virginia’s leadership in data centers creates a unique opportunity and responsibility to shape the future of digital infrastructure,” said Huang. “By connecting 911��’s expertise in power, energy, and AI data centers with Japan’s technology and industry leadership, we can accelerate innovation, develop the workforce, and build more resilient and sustainable infrastructure for the AI era.”

The tours showcased how 911�� is helping address one of the industry's most pressing challenges: developing the workforce, technologies, and energy solutions needed to support rapid growth in data center capacity. The demonstrations highlighted opportunities for research collaboration and talent development at a time when demand for reliable power and computing resources continues to accelerate worldwide.

Huang (left) and graduate students (center, right) led tours at Mason Square. Photo provided.

Following the tours, 911�� hosted an industry panel that brought together leaders from Virginia's data center and electrical infrastructure ecosystem to share perspectives on market growth, facility development, power requirements, engineering, construction, and technology integration. The panel also explored opportunities for Japanese companies to contribute expertise and innovation to Virginia's expanding digital infrastructure sector.

“Having toured data centers in Japan while I worked for NTT, it was pretty clear to me that the Japanese infrastructure and service suppliers have many innovations to share with the U.S. market,” said Phillip Sandino, a senior vice president and head of utility development with Tract. “The Japanese have dealt with land constraints that have driven innovation in density and multi-story construction, which can help U.S. companies make the most of entitled land that we currently have.”

“Engaging with the Japanese business delegation was a powerful reminder that technical collaboration is more than the exchange of ideas. It is the foundation for innovation, operational excellence, and long-term strategic partnership,” said Jim Stage, a strategic advisor for Dominion Energy. “I meet with people of various business backgrounds and scheduled several meets based on the information that we shared.”

The program concluded with an industry exchange session, where members of the delegation presented challenges and emerging needs facing their companies. The interactive discussion gave industry representatives, faculty, and guests the opportunity to identify areas for collaboration and explore solutions to evolving technology and infrastructure demands.

JETRO visit panelists. From left to right: Barker, Kevin Hatcher, Sandino, Stage, and Wernli. Photo provided.

“The JETRO delegation visit was a great opportunity to connect with leaders from Japan's energy, technology, and infrastructure sectors and talk about the growing power and infrastructure demands of the data center market,” said Michael Barker, operations manager at Hensel Phelps. “The reverse-pitch session was especially valuable because it allowed us to hear directly from the Japanese companies about the solutions they're developing and how some of those ideas could potentially be applied here in the U.S., and I'd like to thank Dr. Liling Huang and 911�� for bringing together the Japanese delegation and Virginia industry leaders for a truly worthwhile exchange.”

“It was exciting to hear about the technologies and solutions being developed to address some of the most pressing issues for data center and electrical infrastructure development. The reverse pitches highlighted innovative approaches to sound mitigation, infrastructure monitoring, and site development, along with emerging technologies that could help future projects operate more sustainably while remaining good neighbors within their communities,” said David Wernli, a project manager at Dewberry.

The event constituted JETRO's largest delegation visit to Virginia to date. Organizers reported many attendees were visiting Virginia for the first time and were particularly impressed by the region's hospitality, industry expertise, and innovation ecosystem. The visitors highlighted the value of both the industry panel discussions and the tour of 911��'s research assets.

The visit underscored 911��'s expertise in power and data center research, workforce development, and industry engagement, while strengthening connections between Virginia's innovation ecosystem and leading companies from Japan's technology and energy sectors.

In This Story

Liling Huang

Learn more about the College of Engineering and Computing

Topics

data centers

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Campus News

Energy

College of Engineering and Computing

The little water treatment plant that could

tdonnel — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:51:24 +0000

The little water treatment plant that could tdonnel Thu, 07/30/2026 - 12:51

On a small organic farm in rural Puerto Rico sits a revolutionary water treatment facility ready for action: the AguaClara PF250, a compact, nonelectric drinking water treatment plant designed specifically for small communities. 911�� researchers Daniel Smith and Catherine Akplah are combining engineering innovation, field research, and community partnership to participate in piloting the facility and assess its viability throughout the island nation.

While most Puerto Ricans receive water from the territorial utility system, 100,000 in rural areas rely on small, community-managed water systems that often struggle with aging infrastructure, limited resources, and vulnerability to hurricanes and power outages.

Unlike conventional treatment facilities, the PF250 operates using hydraulic principles and gravity, entirely without electricity. The system uses the same fundamental processes found in large municipal plants, including coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and chlorination, but in a smaller, prefabricated design that can be installed in remote locations. The PF250 was designed and fabricated by the nonprofits AguaClara Reach and Agua Para el Pueblo.

AguaClara PF250 water treatment facility at Plenitud PR. Photo provided.

Smith, an assistant professor in 911��’s Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering, has spent much of his career working on drinking water treatment systems around the world. His connection to PF250s stretches back nearly two decades through the AguaClara program in Honduras.

“It will be very fulfilling to see something that was a concept 15 or more years ago become a practical solution for communities that need it,” he said. “It's a drinking-water treatment plant that has all of the processes you typically find for big town but, with clever engineering, made as small as possible and able to work without any electricity.”

The 911�� team is partnering with VersaWater, a National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator initiative that includes Cornell University, Syracuse University, Inter American University of Puerto Rico, and AguaClara Reach. VersaWater focuses on technology development and deployment, and 911��’s role is to help understand how the PF250 performs with respect to organic matter removal and determine where in Puerto Rico it is most likely to succeed.

Smith and Akplah are working directly with community water boards across Puerto Rico, equipping communities with turbidity meters that measure how cloudy local water supplies become throughout the year. This data will help identify systems where advanced treatment is most needed.

Akplah (left) and Smith (R) in Puerto Rico. Photo provided.

“It's the very first thing you need to know to decide which treatment option is going to be a potentially good fit,” said Smith.

Akplah, a PhD student in Smith's lab whose research focuses on sustainable water treatment, sees the project as an opportunity to create tangible benefits for communities.

“A win for me would be to see one community where we're able to transition this system into something that people can rely on to get drinking water” she said.

The team will operate a pilot PF250 installation at Plenitud PR, an organic permaculture farm in Las Marías, Puerto Rico, to study how well it removes organic matter and controls disinfection byproducts, an important step toward meeting U.S. drinking water regulations. Ultimately, they hope their work will provide communities with data they can use to secure infrastructure funding and improve public health.

If successful, the PF250 could provide a model not only for rural Puerto Rico but also for small, underserved communities across the United States that face similar drinking water challenges.

This research supports the Grand Challenge Initiative's goal of building a more climate-resilient society.

Discover more GCI climate research >>

Learn about other solutions >>

In This Story

Daniel W. Smith

Topics

environmental engineering

Research

GCI-Climate

College of Engineering and Computing

Sustainability

CCI Awards $975,000 to Advance Cybersecurity Innovation

Martha Bushong — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 15:46:19 +0000

CCI Awards $975,000 to Advance Cybersecurity Innovation Martha Bushong Thu, 07/30/2026 - 11:46

In This Story

Liza Wilson Durant

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) has awarded $975,000 to 13 cybersecurity innovation projects through its 2026 CATAPULT and ASCEND funds, continuing its investment in technologies and ideas with the potential to address critical cybersecurity challenges and create real-world impact.

Led by CCI's Northern Virginia Node in partnership with the CCI Hub, the program supports researchers as they advance promising cybersecurity innovations toward commercialization and deployment.

"Our priority is to translate the great research that happens in CCI into products and services that improve people’s lives,” said Luiz DaSilva, CCI executive director. “These programs connect the researchers who built something real with the people who know how to get it to market."

Supporting Technologies with Real-World Potential

The funded projects span a range of cybersecurity priorities, including telecommunications and 5G infrastructure security, health care data protection, artificial intelligence and enterprise environments, critical infrastructure resilience, and security for smart manufacturing, logistics, and mobility systems.

Researchers from Christopher Newport University, 911��, Old Dominion University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Tech are leading the projects, reflecting the breadth of cybersecurity expertise across Virginia's research institutions.

Bridging the Gap Between Research and Commercialization

The CATAPULT and ASCEND programs are designed to help bridge the gap between research and market adoption by supporting technologies with strong potential for commercial, societal, and national security impact.

"The greatest challenge in commercializing research is rarely the technology itself. It's building the pathway to commercial viability," said Liza Wilson Durant, director of the CCI Northern Virginia Node. "Too many promising innovations fail to reach the market because inventors lack the market knowledge, investor networks, and business expertise needed to turn breakthrough discoveries into successful products. This program helps close that gap and accelerate the transition from research to real-world impact."

Building Virginia's Cybersecurity Ecosystem

The newly funded teams represent a growing pipeline of cybersecurity innovators working to translate research into practical solutions that can strengthen cybersecurity across industries and sectors. As the projects progress, they will contribute to CCI's broader goal of advancing innovation, supporting entrepreneurship, and strengthening Virginia's cybersecurity ecosystem.

CCI will continue to share updates on the funded teams as they advance their technologies, validate new approaches, and pursue opportunities in the marketplace.

Topics

Cybersecurity

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI)

Research

entrepreneurship

New initiative aims to build AI literacy among educators through year-long professional learning community

Martha Bushong — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 17:55:00 +0000

New initiative aims to build AI literacy among educators through year-long professional learning community Martha Bushong Tue, 07/14/2026 - 13:55

911�� has launched the Ambassadors of Teaching in the Age of AI (ATAA) program, a new professional learning initiative designed to help educators develop the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the growing role of artificial intelligence in education and society.

The program officially debuted June 22–23 at 911��'s Science and Technology Campus during the Virginia Data Science Teacher Professional Learning Institute, which brought together more than 200 K–12 educators, higher education faculty, industry representatives, and government stakeholders. Approximately 50 participants joined ATAA as founding members of the year-long professional learning community.

Chief AI Officer Amarda Shehu at the Ambassadors of Teaching in the Age of AI kick-off event. Photo provided

The launch marks another step in 911��'s broader AI literacy efforts, by bringing together expertise from across the university to create accessible, research-based programming. ATAA is designed to complement existing educator preparation efforts while providing a foundational AI literacy framework that can be applied by professionals across disciplines.

Developed over the past year, ATAA was created through a collaboration among Peng Warweg, research program director in the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC); Padhu Seshaiyer, professor in the College of Science and director of the Center for Mathematics and Science Education Research and Outreach; Manpriya Dua, research postdoctoral fellow in computer science; and Amarda Shehu, 911��'s chief AI officer and professor of computer science.

The team focused on a growing challenge: How to build AI fluency among practitioners, particularly the K–16 teacher workforce. Warweg, who helped lead the program's design and curriculum development, said ATAA is among the first programs to translate newly released federal guidance into a practical learning experience.

"ATAA is grounded in the U.S. Department of Labor's AI Literacy Framework—a guideline that represents a national consensus on what AI fluency should look like across professions," said Warweg. "ATAA is among the first practitioner programs in the country to translate that guidance into a structured, accessible curriculum."

Peng Warweg (on right), research program director in the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) with Padhu Seshaiyer (left), professor in the College of Science and director of the Center for Mathematics and Science Education Research and Outreach and Manpriya Dua (center), research postdoctoral fellow in computer science. Photo provided.

The launch was supported by the Virginia Data Science Teacher Professional Learning Institute, now in its fifth year and co-organized by Seshaiyer. Through longstanding partnerships with the Virginia Department of Education and decades of leadership in STEM education, Seshaiyer helped establish the foundation that enabled the program to launch at scale.

"Virginia has been building toward this," said Seshaiyer. "ATAA is the natural next step to connect research, policy, and practice around the future of learning."

Seshaiyer and Dua also helped shape the curriculum, ensuring participants receive both practical and technically grounded instruction. Dua's expertise in artificial intelligence and computer science research helped make complex concepts accessible to educators from a wide range of backgrounds.

ATAA also builds on 911��'s broader AI strategy under Shehu's leadership. A key component of the curriculum draws from UNIV 182 AI for All: Understanding and Building Artificial Intelligence (Mason Core) a course developed, by Shehu, to help nontechnical learners gain AI literacy. Research conducted by Shehu has demonstrated significant AI literacy gains among students who complete the course.

"Foundational AI literacy cannot belong only to people who already saw themselves as technical," said Shehu. "What we learned from AI for All is that anyone can develop real fluency when the teaching meets them where they are. ATAA takes that same conviction to the practitioners who multiply it: the educators."

Designed using a train-the-trainer model, ATAA aims to extend its impact beyond the initial cohort. Participants will complete a structured year-long learning experience and earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs). After completing 15 hours of learning, participants will receive a digital badge recognizing their AI literacy achievement, with a full credentialing pathway scheduled to launch in fall 2026.

While educators are the program's first audience, ATAA envisions expanding AI literacy training to professionals across sectors, including healthcare, government, technology, and community organizations. With its strengths in AI research, governance, and education, 911�� hopes to help prepare a broader workforce for an AI-driven future.

Learn more about 911��'s Grand Challenge Initiative

In This Story

Amarda Shehu

Topics

Artificial Intelligence

Campus News

GCI-Education

Science and Technology Campus

The new art of herding robots

tdonnel — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 16:15:27 +0000

The new art of herding robots tdonnel Mon, 07/13/2026 - 12:15

As autonomous systems grow in number and complexity, researchers at 911�� are tackling a critical question: How can a single human operator manage an entire swarm of robots? Professors Alexander Brodsky, Cameron Nowzari, and Daigo Shishika are designing smart-swarm technologies to help military planners coordinate unmanned aerial and ground vehicles within Human-Machine Integrated Formations.

The urgency of this work comes from rapidly evolving real-world conditions. Drone incursions are increasing in both frequency and affordability, explained Nowzari, adding, “It still requires a centralized and expensive response from the Air Force just to take down a $200 drone.”

Astroswarm logo. Image provided.

Swarm robotics offers an alternative. By deploying many low-cost systems, the team aims to shift the economics of defense. “To take out a $200 drone, we want to do it in less than $2,000,” Nowzari explained.

But this introduces a new bottleneck: human attention. “If you have one pilot per robot, you’ve defeated the purpose,” he said. The goal is for “one or two people to manage, coordinate, monitor, and control hundreds of robots.”

The team’s goal is to enable military planners to assemble, adapt, and deploy swarm-control and coordination systems using mo dular,building-block components, reducing complexity while improving mission effectiveness.

They are building a Smart Swarm system with three components: a Swarm Decision Guidance Assistant, Swarm Operations Assistant, and Adversarial Risk Assistant. Together, these tools help operators interpret data, assign tasks, and respond to changing conditions without being overwhelmed.

This human-centered philosophy extends to the interface itself. The team is developing tools such as tablet-based dashboards where operators can issue commands and monitor activity. Deciding what information to display is a major research question.

“If we show them everything, it’s overwhelming,” Nowzari said. “They can’t do anything with it.” The challenge of data overload is top of mind for American military leaders taking lessons from Ukraine, he added.

A frame from Astroswarm. Image provided.

To explore these questions, the project incorporates an unexpected element: a video game. Built by undergraduate researcher Gagan Manjunatha, the simulator translates swarm behavior into an interactive, accessible format. In the game, called Astroswarm, players design simple algorithms to control fleets of spaceships defending a target, mirroring real-world swarm coordination.

Using intuitive, block-based coding, players can program their ships, experimenting with strategies in real time. The system then collects this data and runs large-scale simulations. “We’ll collect simulations and run many trials and see who has the best algorithm for defending a point,” explained Manjunatha.

The game is designed to be accessible to a wide audience while generating valuable insights into how humans design and adapt swarm behaviors. Supported by a $966,836 award from the U.S. Department of the Army, the research will continue through 2028.

In This Story

Alex Brodsky

Daigo Shishika

Cameron Nowzari

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911�� and Phase Inc. receive NSF grant to advance 3D-printed microfluidic technology

Martha Bushong — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 18:37:20 +0000

911�� and Phase Inc. receive NSF grant to advance 3D-printed microfluidic technology Martha Bushong Wed, 07/01/2026 - 14:37

911�� and Phase Inc. have received a National Science Foundation (NSF) STTR grant to advance a new generation of 3D-printed microfluidic devices that could help move the technologies from the research lab toward broader commercial and scientific use.

Ramin M. Hakami and Remi Veneziano. Photo provided

The project combines the expertise of College of Science Professor Ramin M. Hakami’s group in extracellular vesicle (EV) biology, and that of College of Engineering and Computing Associate Professor Remi Veneziano’s group in bioengineering and materials characterization, at 911�� with Phase’s vision to create an end-to-end, automated microfluidic platform that brings together custom device design, scalable 3D-printed polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip manufacturing, and automated fluid handling. Specifically, this project leverages the microfluidic EV platform jointly developed and published by the Veneziano and Hakami groups.

Microfluidic devices use tiny channels to control small amounts of fluid and recreate environments on a cellular scale. They model human biology more realistically than flat cell cultures, making them important for drug discovery, disease research, and toxicology. Microfluidics are especially timely as the FDA has announced plans to phase out some animal testing requirements and encourage more human-relevant methods.

Today, producing complex PDMS microfluidic devices often requires cleanrooms, manual optimization, and repeated trial-and-error. The NSF-supported work is designed to reduce that bottleneck by using thermal and curing models to predict how PDMS will behave during printing, then optimize print parameters before a device is manufactured.

Photo provided

“This partnership helps us move one step closer to a fully automated, scalable microfluidic platform,” said Jeff Schultz, principal investigator and co-founder of Phase, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Our goal is to make microfluidic technology more reproducible and more accessible to researchers and companies working to develop better human-relevant models.”

911�� researchers will help characterize the printed devices for dimensional accuracy, surface quality, batch-to-batch consistency, and biological function. The team will also test a device designed to study EV function. EVs are nanoparticles that are released by cells and play critical roles in intercellular communication. They have been shown to carry important regulatory functions in various human diseases, such as cancer, infectious disease, and neurological disorders, and are also highly advantageous for use in drug delivery.

“Being able to rapidly and cost‑effectively prototype and fabricate custom microfluidic devices will significantly enhance our capacity to design relevant microphysiological systems and will help broaden access to this technology to many research laboratories” said Veneziano.

“Our microfluidic device empowers researchers to conduct functional EV studies with ease and under physiologically relevant conditions. Through our partnership with Phase to 3D print the chips, we will be able to deliver more reliable, cost-effective, and commercially viable tools to the EV scientific community,” said Hakami, co-director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research at 911��.

For Phase, the NSF grant builds on a growing base of support from federal and private sources. The company has already received more than $3.5 million in nondilutive funding, including support from the National Institutes of Health, the One North Carolina Small Business Program, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, NSF, and private-sector partners. Previous research partners include Harvard Medical School, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech.

By pairing 911��’s biological and engineering strengths with Phase’s manufacturing platform, the project is positioned to advance both scientific discovery and commercialization. The result could be a more reliable path for producing the microfluidic tools needed to support the next wave of biomedical research, organ-on-a-chip development, and human-centered bio-innovation.

This research supports the Grand Challenge Initiative's goal of improving human health, well-being, and preparedness

Discover more GCI health and well-being research >>

Learn about other solutions >>

Explore Research at 911��

In This Story

Remi Veneziano

Topics

College of Engineering and Computing

GCI-Health

National Science Foundation

Cora Sula awarded Fulbright to study AI in classrooms in Estonia

Martha Bushong — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:31:39 +0000

Cora Sula awarded Fulbright to study AI in classrooms in Estonia Martha Bushong Wed, 06/17/2026 - 12:31

Cora Sula, a third-year PhD student in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology at 911��, has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to study artificial intelligence (AI) in classrooms in Estonia this fall.

Sula works with Assistant Professor Nora McDonald at the intersection of digital agency, AI and identity. Her recent work examines healthcare privacy and the impact of AI chatbot use on teens’ self-concept and well-being—research she presented at CHI 2026 in Barcelona, the world’s leading conference in human-computer interaction.

“I am so thrilled at this opportunity to study the impact of AI on classrooms,” Sula said. “Estonia is one of the few countries with a national rollout of AI-assisted classrooms.”

While AI education initiatives in the United States are expanding, they remain fragmented and locally driven. In contrast, Estonia is pioneering a nationally coordinated approach through its AI Leap program, an initiative led by the Ministry of Education and Research in partnership with OpenAI. The program aims to systematically integrate AI-powered tools into high school teaching and learning.

Sula’s Fulbright project will investigate how this national initiative is shaping teachers’ professional practices and classroom pedagogy. Using a mixed-methods design—including ethnographic observation, semi-structured interviews, and pre/post surveys—her research will explore how educators navigate both the opportunities and challenges of AI integration.

Her Fulbright will be hosted at Tallinn University of Technology, where she will collaborate with Janika Leoste head of the Creativity Matters Lab and local scholars who bring expertise in digital education and policy.

“This is an amazing opportunity to systematically study how AI will transform classrooms for generations to come,” Sula said. “I’m excited to bring what I learn back to my work on AI and teens.”

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