{"691762":{"#nid":"691762","#data":{"type":"news","title":"EPIcenter Summer Research Program Helps Doctoral Students Advance Energy Research ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFour Georgia Tech doctoral students spent the summer working on their dissertation research through the Energy Policy and Innovation Center\u0027s (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/epicenter.energy.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EEPIcenter\u003C\/a\u003E) Summer Research Program. The competitive program provides a full summer-semester stipend, along with mentorship and professional development opportunities, to support emerging energy scholars.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022One of the goals of the program is to give students the time and support needed to make meaningful progress on their dissertation research while helping them understand the broader policy, economic, and societal implications of their work,\u0022 said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/energy.gatech.edu\/people\/laura-taylor\u0022\u003ELaura Taylor\u003C\/a\u003E, director of EPIcenter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe stipends enable participants to focus exclusively on clearly defined research goals. The program also supports peer discussions, communication training, and interdisciplinary learning opportunities designed to strengthen both their research and professional development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year\u0027s cohort explored topics ranging from electricity markets and air pollution to critical mineral supply chains and grid modernization, highlighting the breadth of energy-related research taking place across Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EExploring Complex Energy Challenges\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/anamazmishvili\/\u0022\u003EAna Mazmishvili\u003C\/a\u003E, who studies environmental and energy economics, used the summer to examine how climate policies affect communities across state lines.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022My research measures who is actually exposed to pollution from power plants when some states adopt climate regulations to cut emissions while neighboring regions do not,\u0022 Mazmishvili said. \u0022Because air doesn\u0027t stop at state borders, the key question is what happens once the pollution is emitted, and who ends up breathing it.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer work focuses on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade program in the Northeast, and investigates whether the benefits and burdens of emissions reductions are distributed equitably between regulated and neighboring states.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMazmishvili said the program provided valuable time to focus on her job-market paper, a central component of her dissertation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The regular meetings with the program director and other fellows create useful accountability checkpoints and let me hear perspectives from people in very different fields,\u0022 she said. \u0022We\u0027re also learning how to make academic research understandable to a general audience, a skill I expect to use well past this summer.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIndustrial and systems engineering doctoral student\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/faezeh-fahimy-8ba9a81b9\/\u0022\u003EFaeze Fahimi Aghda\u003C\/a\u003E spent the summer developing an optimization model for the U.S. gallium supply chain, a critical component of many advanced technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer research uses mathematical modeling to examine where and when domestic gallium processing facilities should be established under the threat of supply disruptions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Working on my research through EPIcenter has taught me to look at my problem from a policy point of view rather than focusing only on the math,\u0022 Fahimi Aghda said. \u0022The feedback within the meetings helped me improve my model.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ryan-anthony-17239b13b\/\u0022\u003ERyan Anthony\u003C\/a\u003E, in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, explored how one of the largest oil shocks in U.S. history affected electricity customers and whether utility ownership influenced the impact on consumers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022So far, my research suggests that it mattered a lot,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cMunicipal utilities held rates down and absorbed many of the costs, while private, investor-owned utilities passed more costs through to their customers.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnthony said the program provided critical support for the archival research required for the project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022My project depends on data that only exists in old government reports, and that kind of archival work is difficult to fund,\u0022 he said. \u0022EPIcenter gave me the time and space to do it properly.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EConnecting Research to Real-World Impact\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Samin Alipour, the summer provided an opportunity to explore how electric grids can adapt to growing numbers of distributed energy resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Most electric distribution systems were built like one-way roads, carrying power from a substation to homes and businesses,\u0022 Alipour said. \u0022Rooftop solar, batteries, and electric vehicles are turning those roads into two-way systems.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer research examines how these emerging technologies can be coordinated to increase grid flexibility and clean energy adoption while maintaining safety and reliability and ensuring that costs and benefits are distributed fairly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith support from EPIcenter, Alipour focused on the economic and policy dimensions of those challenges. \u0022I did not want my research to remain only a technical model,\u0022 she said. \u0022The program has helped me connect the technical results of my dissertation to economic value, reliability, equity and compensation policy.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne study developed during the summer was accepted for presentation at a specialized power systems conference, an achievement Alipour credits in part to the opportunity to focus on the broader implications of her work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBuilding the Next Generation of Energy Scholars\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond advancing individual research projects, the Summer Research Program encourages students to engage with colleagues from different disciplines and develop skills for communicating complex ideas to broader audiences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThrough regular cohort meetings, participants build a community of accountability, discuss research challenges, explore interdisciplinary energy topics, and develop communication skills,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/energy.gatech.edu\/people\/gilbert-x-gonzalez\u0022\u003EGil Gonzalez\u003C\/a\u003E, program support coordinator for EPIcenter. \u201cStudents also write a research-focused blog post for EPIcenter and present their work at the program\u0027s fall workshop, which allows them to share their research with the broader Georgia Tech energy community.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs EPIcenter continues to support interdisciplinary energy scholarship at Georgia Tech, the Summer Research Program equips future leaders with the tools to address complex energy challenges through technological innovation, informed policy, and economic analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFour Georgia Tech doctoral students spent the summer working on their dissertation research through the Energy Policy and Innovation Center\u0027s (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/epicenter.energy.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EEPIcenter\u003C\/a\u003E) Summer Research Program. The competitive program provides a full summer-semester stipend, along with mentorship and professional development opportunities, to support emerging energy scholars.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022One of the goals of the program is to give students the time and support needed to make meaningful progress on their dissertation research while helping them understand the broader policy, economic, and societal implications of their work,\u0022 said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/energy.gatech.edu\/people\/laura-taylor\u0022\u003ELaura Taylor\u003C\/a\u003E, director of EPIcenter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe stipends enable participants to focus exclusively on clearly defined research goals. The program also supports peer discussions, communication training, and interdisciplinary learning opportunities designed to strengthen both their research and professional development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year\u0027s cohort explored topics ranging from electricity markets and air pollution to critical mineral supply chains and grid modernization, highlighting the breadth of energy-related research taking place across Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Four Georgia Tech doctoral students spent the summer working on their dissertation research through the Energy Policy and Innovation Center\u0027s (EPIcenter) Summer Research Program. "}],"uid":"36413","created_gmt":"2026-08-18 17:15:39","changed_gmt":"2026-08-18 17:21:43","author":"pdevarajan3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680906":{"id":"680906","type":"image","title":"Students-PhotoCollage.png","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFrom Top Left (Clockwise): \u003C\/em\u003EAna Mazmishvili, Ryan Anthony, Samin Alipour, Faeze Fahimi Aghda\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1787073357","gmt_created":"2026-08-18 17:15:57","changed":"1787073357","gmt_changed":"2026-08-18 17:15:57","alt":"From Top Left (clockwise): Ana Mazmishvili, Ryan Anthony, Samin Alipour, Faeze Fahimi Aghda","file":{"fid":"265239","name":"Students-PhotoCollage.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/18\/Students-PhotoCollage.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/18\/Students-PhotoCollage.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1664395,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/18\/Students-PhotoCollage.png?itok=F9-gHuBL"}}},"media_ids":["680906"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"},{"id":"1280","name":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"categories":[{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"194612","name":"Workforce Development"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"188776","name":"go-research"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:priya.devarajan@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EPriya Devarajan\u003C\/a\u003E | SEI Communications Manager\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["priya.devarajan@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691740":{"#nid":"691740","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Melkote Named Interim Associate Vice President of Corporate Engagement at Georgia Tech ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShreyes N. Melkote, Morris M. Bryan Jr. Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and executive director of the Novelis Innovation Hub at Georgia Tech, has been named interim associate vice president of Corporate Engagement, effective Sept. 1. He will report to Executive Vice President for Research Tim Lieuwen and will lead the Office of Corporate Engagement (OCE) during a national search for the position\u2019s permanent successor.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMelkote succeeds J. Mark Nolan, who announced he will step down from the role effective Aug. 31 after helping establish and grow Georgia Tech\u2019s integrated approach to corporate engagement and industry partnerships.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI am grateful to Shreyes for stepping into this important leadership role during this transition,\u201d said Lieuwen. \u201cThroughout his career, he has demonstrated an exceptional ability to build meaningful partnerships between academia and industry. His deep understanding of research, innovation, and corporate collaboration makes him uniquely qualified to lead our corporate engagement efforts as we continue advancing Georgia Tech\u2019s mission and strengthening relationships with industry partners around the world.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMelkote brings extensive experience building industry partnerships and collaborative research programs. He serves as executive director of the Novelis Innovation Hub at Georgia Tech and has led the Institute\u2019s strategic engagement with The Boeing Company since 2012 through its University Innovation Program. An internationally recognized manufacturing researcher, Melkote has authored more than 300 publications and is a fellow of ASME, SME, and CIRP.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI am honored to serve in this role and build upon the strong foundation established by Mark Nolan and the Office of Corporate Engagement team,\u201d said Melkote.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA national search is underway for the permanent associate vice president of Corporate Engagement. The search is being led by Chris Jones, John F. Brock III School Chair and Professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, with support from executive search firm WittKieffer. \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/wittkieffer.com\/positions\/a1wun000001z05lmaa\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ELearn more about the position and search process.\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Shreyes Melkote will begin his new interim role on Sept. 1. "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMelkote Named Interim Associate Vice President of Corporate Engagement at Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Melkote Named Interim Associate Vice President of Corporate Engagement at Georgia Tech "}],"uid":"27561","created_gmt":"2026-08-18 11:41:29","changed_gmt":"2026-08-18 11:46:04","author":"Angela Ayers","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680896":{"id":"680896","type":"image","title":"ShreyesMelkote.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EShreyes N. Melkote\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1787053314","gmt_created":"2026-08-18 11:41:54","changed":"1787053314","gmt_changed":"2026-08-18 11:41:54","alt":"Headshot of Shreyes Melkote","file":{"fid":"265229","name":"ShreyesMelkote.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/18\/ShreyesMelkote.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/18\/ShreyesMelkote.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":47554,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/18\/ShreyesMelkote.jpg?itok=kEtgptKV"}}},"media_ids":["680896"],"groups":[{"id":"658116","name":"Corporate Engagement"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691717":{"#nid":"691717","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Essie Knows Best","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech industrial design students traveled to an Atlanta nursing home expecting to redesign gardening tools for older adults. Instead, they discovered that the residents themselves were their most important teachers. Working alongside horticultural therapy participants at A.G. Rhodes, the students observed how aging changes the way people interact with everyday objects and learned that good design begins with listening, not assumptions. Together, they developed practical solutions that restored small but meaningful moments of independence, proving that the people living with a problem are indispensable partners in solving it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.research.gatech.edu\/feature\/essie-knows-best\u0022\u003ERead more \u00bb\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"The lesson only nursing home residents can teach Georgia Tech design students."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech industrial design students traveled to an Atlanta nursing home expecting to redesign gardening tools for older adults. Instead, they discovered that the residents themselves were their most important teachers. Working alongside horticultural therapy participants at A.G. Rhodes, the students observed how aging changes the way people interact with everyday objects and learned that good design begins with listening, not assumptions. Together, they developed practical solutions that restored small but meaningful moments of independence, proving that the people living with a problem are indispensable partners in solving it.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Designing with people, rather than for them, can restore independence while teaching future designers lessons no classroom alone can provide."}],"uid":"27255","created_gmt":"2026-08-17 13:40:52","changed_gmt":"2026-08-17 16:37:22","author":"Josie Giles","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680891":{"id":"680891","type":"image","title":"essie-final-thumb.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003ELEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE: Georgia Tech industrial design student Olivia Chan (left) works alongside A.G. Rhodes resident Essie Bailey-Demic during a horticultural therapy session. By observing and designing with residents rather than for them, students developed tools that help restore independence.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1786981054","gmt_created":"2026-08-17 15:37:34","changed":"1786981054","gmt_changed":"2026-08-17 15:37:34","alt":"Two people work with potted plants in a greenhouse filled with hanging and tabletop greenery during a gardening activity.","file":{"fid":"265223","name":"essie-final-thumb.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/17\/essie-final-thumb.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/17\/essie-final-thumb.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":518282,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/17\/essie-final-thumb.jpg?itok=pFwAUrAx"}}},"media_ids":["680891"],"groups":[{"id":"69599","name":"IPaT"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"195203","name":"go-noshow"},{"id":"188084","name":"go-ipat"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691668":{"#nid":"691668","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Engineered at Tech: Pinpointing River Pollution","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKatherine Graham is an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering who studies the fate and transport of pathogens and their indicators in water, including E. coli. Her research focuses on what happens when pathogens get into water, where they go, and how it affects public policy decisions related to health. This includes looking at bacteria and conditions in Atlanta\u2019s Chattahoochee River.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJoin Georgia Tech undergraduate Harrison Burnside on this latest episode of Engineered at Tech as he tours Katherine Graham\u0027s lab and discovers how to track pathogens in the Chattahoochee River. The goal is to help local agencies pinpoint sources of pollution in rivers and reservoirs to protect public health.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/engineered-tech-pinpointing-river-pollution\u0022\u003EWatch the video on the COE News page\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKatherine Graham is an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering who studies the fate and transport of pathogens and their indicators in water, including E. coli. Her research focuses on what happens when pathogens get into water, where they go, and how it affects public policy decisions related to health. This includes looking at bacteria and conditions in Atlanta\u2019s Chattahoochee River.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJoin Georgia Tech undergraduate Harrison Burnside on this latest episode of Engineered at Tech as he tours Katherine Graham\u0027s lab and discovers how to track pathogens in the Chattahoochee River. The goal is to help local agencies pinpoint sources of pollution in rivers and reservoirs to protect public health.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Environmental engineer Katherine Graham is developing new methods to pinpoint pathogens in water to help local agencies make rivers and reservoirs cleaner. "}],"uid":"36413","created_gmt":"2026-08-13 20:32:24","changed_gmt":"2026-08-17 15:51:03","author":"pdevarajan3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-07-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-07-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680868":{"id":"680868","type":"image","title":"Engineered-at-Tech-Pinpointing-River-Pollution.jpg","body":null,"created":"1786653263","gmt_created":"2026-08-13 20:34:23","changed":"1786653263","gmt_changed":"2026-08-13 20:34:23","alt":"YouTube Thumbnail of Engineered at Tech Episode with GT Researcher Katerine Graham and Undergrad student Harrison Burnside","file":{"fid":"265197","name":"Engineered-at-Tech-Pinpointing-River-Pollution.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/13\/Engineered-at-Tech-Pinpointing-River-Pollution.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/13\/Engineered-at-Tech-Pinpointing-River-Pollution.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":190657,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/13\/Engineered-at-Tech-Pinpointing-River-Pollution.jpg?itok=yUH1CNRW"}}},"media_ids":["680868"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/engineered-tech-pinpointing-river-pollution","title":"Full Story on the COE News Page"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"},{"id":"1280","name":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"194611","name":"State Impact"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECandler Hobbs, College of Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691698":{"#nid":"691698","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society Names Simon Sponberg Associate Director for Interdisciplinary Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society\u003C\/a\u003E (INNS) has appointed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/simon-sponberg\u0022\u003ESimon Sponberg\u003C\/a\u003E as associate director for Interdisciplinary Research, where he will help foster collaborations, support emerging research initiatives, and advance interdisciplinary neuroscience research across campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaunched in 2025, INNS serves as a hub for neuroscience and neurotechnology research, connecting researchers across disciplines to advance discovery, innovation, and societal impact.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA core part of INNS\u0027s mission is helping people find one another, connect around shared interests, and build something bigger than they could accomplish alone,\u201d says Executive Director \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/christopher-rozell\u0022\u003EChristopher Rozell\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cSimon has spent his career bringing together people, perspectives, and disciplines to tackle complex challenges. I can\u0027t think of a better person to help lead our interdisciplinary research efforts and support the next generation of collaborative neuroscience research.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA longtime leader in Georgia Tech\u0027s neuroscience community, Sponberg helped shape the institute\u0027s early foundations through the Neuro Next Initiative, which evolved into INNS. As associate director, he will help guide research strategy, foster new collaborations, and support interdisciplinary work across the neuroscience ecosystem.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNeuro-related research touches so many fields that we inevitably have a problem of finding all the potential right people and opportunities to tap into,\u201d he said. \u201cA core responsibility of this role is helping catalyze the ideas of new teams of talented researchers, educators, and trainees from inception to realization.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESponberg is the Glen Robinson Professor in Complex Systems with appointments in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, where he directs the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sponberg.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EAgile Systems Lab\u003C\/a\u003E. His work also connects him to the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bioresearch.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E (IBB) and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E (IRIM), underscoring the cross-disciplinary approach that defines both his research and leadership.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince joining Georgia Tech in 2014, he has built a highly collaborative research program spanning neuroscience, biology, physics, engineering, and robotics while helping foster interdisciplinary connections across campus. He currently leads a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/18\/mathematics-physics-use-moths-and-origami-structures-innovative-defense-research\u0022\u003EMultidisciplinary University Research Initiative\u003C\/a\u003E (MURI) that brings together neuroscientists and engineers from five universities to understand how brains achieve fast, flexible perception and decision-making in complex sensory environments. He also co-leads the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/georgia-tech-partners-15m-nsf-grant-explore-muscle-dynamics\u0022\u003EIntegrative Movement Sciences Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, an NSF Biological Integration Institute focused on understanding movement and muscle function across scales.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis contributions have been recognized through numerous honors, including a Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Neuroethology, a Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship in the Neurosciences, and the Leddy Family Dean\u2019s Faculty Excellence Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs associate director, Sponberg will focus on helping researchers identify new opportunities for connection and collaboration. In addition to overseeing seed funding programs, he hopes to create pathways for researchers to build teams, access support resources, pursue ambitious interdisciplinary research ideas, and team with Georgia Tech\u2019s undergraduate and graduate neuroscience degree programs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI look forward to being a resource for our community when people are looking for help in building teams or finding opportunities to support their ideas,\u201d he said. \u201cBring your best ideas and please reach out if you want to talk about ideas in the interdisciplinary neuro space that you want to see realized.\u201d\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech researcher and longtime neuroscience community leader will help catalyze new collaborations and research opportunities across the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society (INNS).\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech researcher and longtime neuroscience community leader will help catalyze new collaborations and research opportunities across the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society (INNS)."}],"uid":"35575","created_gmt":"2026-08-14 20:32:01","changed_gmt":"2026-08-14 20:50:42","author":"adavidson38","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680883":{"id":"680883","type":"image","title":"Simon-Headshot.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to his new leadership role at INNS, Simon Sponberg leads a multidisciplinary research program spanning neuroscience, biology, physics, engineering, and robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1786739533","gmt_created":"2026-08-14 20:32:13","changed":"1786739533","gmt_changed":"2026-08-14 20:32:13","alt":"Simon Sponberg smiling in front of a whiteboard.","file":{"fid":"265215","name":"Simon-Headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/14\/Simon-Headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/14\/Simon-Headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2798844,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/14\/Simon-Headshot.jpg?itok=7P3QbQBX"}}},"media_ids":["680883"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/lab-life-inside-institute-neuroscience-neurotechnology-and-society","title":"From Lab to Life: Inside the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society"},{"url":"https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/18\/mathematics-physics-use-moths-and-origami-structures-innovative-defense-research","title":"Mathematics, Physics Use Moths and Origami Structures for Innovative Defense Research"},{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/georgia-tech-partners-15m-nsf-grant-explore-muscle-dynamics","title":"Georgia Tech Partners on $15M NSF Grant to Explore Muscle Dynamics"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"66220","name":"Neuro"},{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193656","name":"Neuro Next Initiative"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:audra.davidson@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAudra Davidson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr\u003EInstitute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["audra.davidson@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691679":{"#nid":"691679","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Why the Data Behind a Part Now Matters as Much as the Part Itself ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECounterfeit and out-of-spec components are entering U.S. defense supply chains through thousands of small and midsized suppliers that make up the lower tiers of the industrial base. Researchers at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/manufacturing.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Manufacturing Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTMI) say the fix isn\u0027t just better parts, but better proof: verified digital records, secured against tampering, that travel with each component from raw material to installation.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA landmark 2012 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.armed-services.senate.gov\/press-releases\/senate-armed-services-committee-releases-report-on-counterfeit-electronic-parts\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESenate Armed Services Committee investigation\u003C\/a\u003E documented 1,800 cases involving more than 1 million suspect counterfeit electronic parts in the defense supply chain, traced to more than 650 companies relying on their own unvetted networks of distributors and brokers. In one case, parts changed hands five times before reaching a Raytheon subcontractor.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Pentagon has separately estimated that \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.trentonsystems.com\/en-us\/resource-hub\/blog\/10-shocking-facts-counterfeit-electronics\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eup to 15%\u003C\/a\u003E of the spare and replacement electronic parts it buys are counterfeit. Without verification built into the supply chain, officials warn, a single bad part, or a single exposed manufacturing controller, can compromise a weapons system or halt a production line. That risk hasn\u0027t eased: a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/products\/gao-25-107283\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E2025 Government Accountability Office report\u003C\/a\u003E found that Department of Defense now depends on more than 200,000 suppliers, and a deeper look at the MQ-9 Reaper drone\u0027s supply chain found Chinese components at the lower tiers despite U.S.- and Europe-based top-tier suppliers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EManufacturers are adopting a QR-coded digital record, sometimes called a digital passport, that documents a part\u0027s full production history and can be scanned at any point in the supply chain. According to GTMI Executive Director \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/expert\/tom-kurfess\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ETom Kurfess\u003C\/a\u003E, a member of the National Academy of Engineering who previously oversaw federal manufacturing R\u0026amp;D policy at the White House, the core requirement of this digital infrastructure is straightforward: apart must prove it is what it claims to be.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I am not a counterfeit part; I was made according to specifications, and you can insert me into that jet engine with high confidence that I\u0027m going to perform as specified,\u0022 Kurfess said, describing what the scan of a digital passport for a replacement jet engine turbine blade needs to confirm before it goes into an F-35.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow the Tracking Works\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile a fighter jet represents the apex of tracking stakes, Kurfess notes that the underlying infrastructure is already proven on much more ordinary assembly lines. He points to a plumbing fixture plant near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where every unit carries a QR code that pulls up the humidity conditions during manufacturing, the processing steps, and who worked on the part. Defense components use the same method, where an untraced failure carries far higher stakes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology itself is cost-effective. Shops have swapped standard calipers for Bluetooth-enabled versions that cost only a few dollars more, Kurfess said. Paired with a smartphone or tablet and a cloud account, those calipers automatically and securely feed measurements into a spreadsheet rather than a handwritten log, building a documentation record for every part in a batch.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Before shipping it off, you essentially signal that you are ready. You click the print button, and a QR code prints out to go right on the shipping bin,\u0022 Kurfess said. \u0022Whoever receives that bin, whether a commercial OEM or a defense prime, scans the code and can pull up the part\u2019s full record.\u201d The same approach covers more complex components. Electric motors built for the automotive industry now upload test-stand performance data to the cloud before shipping; once installed, a vehicle\u0027s control system scans the motor\u0027s passport and calibrates accordingly, Kurfess said. On automotive assembly lines, cameras and scanners verify that every part in a kit is present before workers seal and code it, catching shortages before they halt the production line.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor defense suppliers, Kurfess said the documentation lets prime contractors, and the Department of Defense confirm that a part meets specifications and traces it through its full production history. \u0022We know it\u0027s a good blade, and you can insert it into the F-35,\u0022 he said. \u0022We can track all of it.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Cybersecurity Risk\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat documentation only works if the underlying systems stay secure. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/directory\/saman-zonouz\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESaman Zonouz\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EElectrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, said manufacturing is one of 16 sectors the Department of Homeland Security, through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) classifies as \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/topics\/critical-infrastructure-security-and-resilience\/critical-infrastructure-sectors\/critical-manufacturing-sector\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecritical infrastructure\u003C\/a\u003E, dependent on energy and water to operate while other sectors depend on it in turn.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis research shows adversaries can insert what his team calls \u0022logic bombs\u0022 into design files: code that leaves a manufactured part looking normal until it fails on command, whether that part is a drone propeller or a power grid transformer. He also pointed to supply chain attacks, where imported machine tools arrive with vulnerable or deliberately compromised software already installed, the same pattern behind the SolarWinds breach that hit critical infrastructure nationwide.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScanning the internet, Zonouz\u0027s team found manufacturing controllers exposed and reachable by outside actors. Manufacturing hasn\u0027t developed cybersecurity measures at the pace of sectors such as finance or energy, he said, in part because engineers built legacy equipment for reliability, not to resist a deliberate attack.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAI cuts both ways, according to Zonouz. It powers new attack-detection systems, including the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/georgiaaim.org\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia AI in Manufacturing (Georgia AIM)\u003C\/a\u003E technology corridor, a $65 million initiative that includes a pilot project at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ampf.research.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAdvanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility\u003C\/a\u003E to enable shops to monitor for anomalies without constant human oversight. But AI systems also introduce new, often unknown vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZonouz encourages manufacturers to build cybersecurity into systems from the start, borrow lessons from more mature sectors already operating under frameworks such as \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nerc.com\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENorth American Electric Reliability Corporation\u003C\/a\u003E Critical Infrastructure Protection for the power grid, and prepare for manufacturing standards, including the Department of Defense\u0027s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification framework, to tighten over time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMuch of GTMI\u0027s work runs through the small and midsized manufacturers that supply nuts, bolts, and castings to prime contractors such as Lockheed Martin and General Motors, companies that typically lack the in-house IT resources of a major OEM. Kurfess said GTMI configures the same cloud tools that automate measurement tracking to meet Department of Defense documentation and cybersecurity requirements, working directly with smaller suppliers to build that capability instead of leaving them to develop it alone.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETracking Choke Points Before They Become Failures\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe same connectivity that verifies individual parts also shows manufacturers where a supply chain is vulnerable before a disruption hits. Kurfess cites \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.library.hbs.edu\/working-knowledge\/japan-disaster-shakes-up-supply-chain-strategies\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe 2011 Fukushima disaster\u003C\/a\u003E, which knocked out a single Japanese plant supplying a chip used in the machine tool industry worldwide, and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s41072-025-00220-4\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECovid-era shipping container shortage\u003C\/a\u003E that forced companies to truck castings across the country when no containers were available at U.S. ports for shipping via rail. Mapping a supply chain in both directions, he said, reveals where a single supplier, region, or disruptive event such as inclement weather or a power outage could stop production.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKurfess compares GTMI\u0027s approach to \u0022being the Google Maps for manufacturing,\u0022 using real-time connectivity to flag bottlenecks and reroute them in the best possible manner. That logic also drives GTMI\u0027s push for distributed manufacturing: spreading production of a component, such as electric vehicle motors, across many smaller regional plants instead of one large facility so a local disruption can\u0027t affect the whole chain. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fis.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGTMI\u0027s Factory Information Systems Center\u003C\/a\u003E builds the secure supply chain architectures and machine-to-cloud connectivity behind that work.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/users\/chris-gaffney\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EChris Gaffney\u003C\/a\u003E, managing director of Georgia Tech\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scl.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESupply Chain and Logistics Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, reached a similar conclusion in a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.research.gatech.edu\/2026\/06\/23\/logistics-transition-what-know-what-watch-and-how-keep-moving\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJune 2026 research brief\u003C\/a\u003E, calling cyberattacks on physical supply chains \u0022a defining executive risk\u0022 and trusted operational data possibly \u0022the most valuable\u0022 asset a supply chain organization holds.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVerifying Quality Without Shipping Parts Across the Country\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTMI is applying AI directly to quality verification at its \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ampf.research.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAdvanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF)\u003C\/a\u003E, where manufacturers can build and verify a part under one roof instead of shipping it elsewhere for testing. \u0022Right now, in manufacturing, a piece of equipment, a turbine rotor blade, for example, is created in one place, then sent somewhere else for testing,\u0022 said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/people\/aaron-stebner\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAaron Stebner\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor who leads AMPF\u0027s work under the Georgia AIM initiative. \u0022Often it goes across the country to check its interior structure, then is shipped to a second location to test its chemical composition.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAMPF\u0027s connected machines \u0022talk\u0022 to each other using AI and a knowledge management system, verifying a part\u2019s material composition and durability as it\u0027s made rather than after the fact, so manufacturers can confirm they\u0027re building what they intend to build without shipping delays. \u0022No other facility in the nation is built to do this autonomously,\u0022 Stebner said. \u0022Georgia Tech will be the first.\u0022 GTMI is also opening AMPF to remote materials research through a new AI-driven cloud lab (see sidebar).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGTMI\u0027s Role\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKurfess and Zonouz both credited close collaboration between manufacturing and cybersecurity researchers at Georgia Tech, including a dedicated School of Cybersecurity and Privacy, as the basis for GTMI\u0027s work in this area. That collaboration drives research into cyber-secure manufacturing platforms designed with security built in from the outset, and AMPF gives those systems a place to run on production-scale equipment.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKurfess said the next test is scale: whether digital passports, secure cloud tracking, and AI-verified quality checks can move from a handful of pilot programs and flagship facilities to the thousands of small shops that make up the defense industrial base. The technology, from Bluetooth calipers to readily available and cost-effective cloud accounts, is already cheap enough that cost isn\u0027t the barrier. What remains is installing, securing, and standardizing those tools across a supply chain that still runs largely on paper.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo learn more about how GTMI can help defense manufacturers build supply chain resilience, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/manufacturing.gatech.edu\/engage\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/manufacturing.gatech.edu\/engage\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E# # #\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGTMI to Build AI-Driven Cloud Lab for Remote Materials Research\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is building a Programmable Cloud Laboratory that will let researchers across the country direct materials experiments at the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ampf.research.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAdvanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF)\u003C\/a\u003E without traveling on-site. The National Science Foundation is funding the project with $18.1 million as part of a planned national network of 20 AI-enabled cloud labs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers will submit a request, and AI agents will translate it into a detailed workflow, coordinating robots, equipment, and data collection across the facility. \u0022Researchers can ask a question, have work recommended by AI agents, have experiments carried out at the facility using robotics, and get the results back,\u0022 said Aaron Stebner, GTMI associate director, Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. Chair, and James R. and Sarah R. Borders Faculty Fellow in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. \u0022They can use AMPF resources to advance their own research without having to be experts in each piece of equipment or send students to AMPF for weeks at a time.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAMPF is approaching autonomous workflow capability across about 38 of its 160 pieces of equipment. The cloud lab aims to push that past 100. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/users\/pascal-van-hentenryck\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EPascal Van Hentenryck\u003C\/a\u003E, director of the NSF AI Institute for Advances in Optimization, said the system will rely on digital twins, virtual models of the facility, to plan and monitor experiments, and will improve its scheduling and machine tuning as it learns from each run.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project also integrates Duke University\u0027s Automatic FLOW for Materials Discovery platform and a knowledge and data management platform from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.contextualize.us.com\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EContextualize\u003C\/a\u003E to connect researchers, instruments, and IT systems across the network. Organizers expect more than 400 users from 150 academic, industry, and government institutions, with more than half participating remotely.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETom Kurfess, GTMI\u0027s executive director, said the lab will let industry partners test new ideas before committing to large-scale deployment. \u0022This initiative will shorten development cycles and make it easier to bring promising technologies into production, enabling our partners and us to innovate at the speed of thought,\u0022 he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"GTMI researchers say digital passports and secure-by-design manufacturing are closing gaps in defense supply chains. "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are working to make U.S. manufacturing and defense supply chains more secure and resilient by combining digital part tracking, cybersecurity, AI-enabled quality verification, and real-time supply chain monitoring.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are working to make U.S. manufacturing and defense supply chains more secure and resilient by combining digital part tracking, cybersecurity, AI-enabled quality verification, and real-time supply chain monitoring."}],"uid":"36757","created_gmt":"2026-08-14 13:08:23","changed_gmt":"2026-08-14 19:52:15","author":"ychernet3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680876":{"id":"680876","type":"image","title":"Will Huggins Image","body":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech doctoral candidate Will Huggins presents findings of an AMPF case study featuring the manufacture and repair of high-value parts used by the railway industry.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1786715691","gmt_created":"2026-08-14 13:54:51","changed":"1786715863","gmt_changed":"2026-08-14 13:57:43","alt":"Georgia Tech doctoral candidate Will Huggins presents findings of an AMPF case study","file":{"fid":"265206","name":"26-R10410-P134-057.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/14\/26-R10410-P134-057.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/14\/26-R10410-P134-057.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2347177,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/14\/26-R10410-P134-057.jpg?itok=QguEsN9A"}}},"media_ids":["680876"],"groups":[{"id":"155831","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jennifer.martin@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJennifer Martin\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EAssistant Director of Research Communications Services\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EWriter: Anne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691643":{"#nid":"691643","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Rare NASA Satellite Data Reveals Major Limits in Flood Models","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine was\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/06\/06\/world\/europe\/ukraine-dam-explainer.html\u0022\u003Edestroyed\u003C\/a\u003E on June 6, 2023. The event unleashed a catastrophic flood that forced thousands of residents to evacuate their communities as water levels rose 10 feet above normal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor most floods caused by dam or reservoir breaks, known as outburst floods, current data is nearly impossible to find. By the time researchers can safely reach the site, only the aftermath remains. But in the case of Kakhovka, a newly launched NASA satellite happened to be collecting measurements over the region, providing a unique view of the flood in real time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing those observations, Georgia Tech researchers tested how well existing outburst flood models reproduced the actual event. The results revealed a discrepancy: The models consistently underestimated flood conditions. Even improved models struggled to accurately capture both the height and timing of floodwaters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1029\/2025GL120832\u0022\u003Efindings\u003C\/a\u003E suggest that commonly used flood simulations may not fully capture the dynamics of large outburst floods. Models need improvement to be effective for hazard assessment and emergency planning.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPutting Models to the Test\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFlood models are essential for estimating how deadly and costly outburst floods can be.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cModels allow us to understand which communities could be affected by an outburst flood,\u201d\u0026nbsp;said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/lang-karl\u0022\u003EKarl Lang\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u201cThey also help us estimate how long floodwaters will remain on the landscape. In many places, prolonged flooding can be just as devastating as the initial event because it can damage infrastructure, disrupt livelihoods, and contribute to public health risks.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUntil recently, however, scientists didn\u2019t have a way to evaluate how accurate the models were. But when NASA launched its Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a serendipitous opportunity arose. The satellite passed over the Kakhovka flood zone repeatedly during and after the dam failure, producing detailed daily measurements across the flood plain. SWOT uses two antennas and a technique called interferometry to measure water elevation with approximately 10-centimeter accuracy across rivers, lakes, wetlands, reservoirs, and oceans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSWOT doesn\u2019t observe every flood that happens, but when it does, it provides exactly the information we\u2019ve needed to understand how floodwaters move across the landscape,\u201d said Tamlin Pavelsky, professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. \u201cThose observations help us improve computer models used to anticipate future flood events.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReality Versus Simulation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers compared the satellite observations with models that simulate depth and spread of flooding. They found that models relying on commonly available global data consistently simulated floodwaters that were lower and slower than those SWOT observed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team then improved the model inputs by incorporating more realistic estimates of the reservoir and river-bottom topography. Those changes brought model results closer to real-world conditions, but they still failed to accurately reproduce both flood height and flood timing simultaneously.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s really challenging to collect real-world data from these huge floods because they\u2019re so localized, unpredictable, and energetic,\u201d said Karin Lehnigk, a postdoctoral fellow and lead author of the study. \u201cBecause SWOT gave us a new image every day covering the entire flood path, we could compare the model with real-world conditions across many locations and points in time in ways that previously were only possible in a laboratory.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe results suggest model limitations extend beyond simply having better maps of reservoir depth or river channels. Instead, they point to broader challenges in how scientists simulate large outburst floods and their movement across complex landscapes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs aging infrastructure, extreme weather, and other hazards increase flood risks around the world, researchers say better models are essential for helping communities prepare for the floods.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis research was funded by NASA and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pace.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EPartnership for an Advanced Computing Environment\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECITATION:\u0026nbsp;Lehnigk,\u0026nbsp;K.E.,\u0026nbsp;Pavelsky,\u0026nbsp;T.M., \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Lang,\u0026nbsp;K.A.\u0026nbsp;(2026).\u0026nbsp;SWOT satellite observations of the Kakhovka Dam break flood highlight limitations of outburst flood models.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EGeophysical Research Letters\u003C\/em\u003E,\u0026nbsp;53, e2025GL120832.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/2025GL120832\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/2025GL120832\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUsing unprecedented observations of Ukraine\u2019s 2023 Kakhovka Dam collapse, Georgia Tech researchers found that widely used flood models underestimated both water levels and flood timing.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Using unprecedented observations of Ukraine\u2019s 2023 Kakhovka Dam collapse, Georgia Tech researchers found that widely used flood models underestimated both water levels and flood timing."}],"uid":"34541","created_gmt":"2026-08-13 15:12:42","changed_gmt":"2026-08-14 17:23:21","author":"Tess Malone","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680853":{"id":"680853","type":"image","title":"AdobeStock_611532639.jpeg","body":null,"created":"1786634256","gmt_created":"2026-08-13 15:17:36","changed":"1786634256","gmt_changed":"2026-08-13 15:17:36","alt":"flooding image","file":{"fid":"265182","name":"AdobeStock_611532639.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/13\/AdobeStock_611532639.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/13\/AdobeStock_611532639.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2802600,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/13\/AdobeStock_611532639.jpeg?itok=tkMJVg3P"}}},"media_ids":["680853"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone, Senior Research Writer\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"689015":{"#nid":"689015","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Successful USDA Program That Has Supported More Than 533,000 Affordable Rental Homes in Rural America is Getting Phased\u00a0Out","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022theconversation-article-body\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/rent-apartments-cities-near-me-biggest-increases\/\u0022\u003EThe high cost of renting and buying homes in U.S. cities\u003C\/a\u003E is no secret. But this affordability problem isn\u2019t limited to urban regions \u2013 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/research\/2025\/06\/the-deterioration-of-housing-affordability-in-rural-america\/\u0022\u003Eit affects rural areas as well\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERural areas, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fhfa.gov\/blog\/insights\/who-lives-in-rural-america\u0022\u003Ehome to about 25% of Americans\u003C\/a\u003E, benefit from federally supported rental housing programs \u2013 particularly a U.S. Department of Agriculture program to provide affordable homes for low-income residents.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ruralhome.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/storage\/documents\/rd515rental.pdf\u0022\u003EUSDA\u2019s Section 515 program\u003C\/a\u003E is the primary way that the U.S. government finances affordable rental homes in rural communities. Since its inception in 1963, the program has supported the construction of over \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pfs2.acl.gov\/strapib\/assets\/Rural_Housing_Programs_Chapter_Summary_50076d51da.pdf\u0022\u003E533,000 apartments, townhouses\u003C\/a\u003E and other small, multifamily rental homes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe program offers below-market-rate loans to private and nonprofit developers who build and manage residential housing for low-income residents in small towns and rural counties. The terms of the deal between property owners and the government obliges these landlords to keep rents affordable for their occupants for decades, generally restricting rent to about \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hudexchange.info\/programs\/home\/home-income-limits\/\u0022\u003E30% of tenants\u2019 income\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ELast New Loans Were in 2011\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPeople who live in Section 515 housing typically \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ruralhousingcoalition.org\/section-515-rural-rental-housing-loans\/#:%7E:text=The%20USDA%20says%20that%20Section%20515%20housing,more%20than%20$325%20per%20unit%20per%20month\u0022\u003Epay around US$325 per month\u003C\/a\u003E. That\u2019s much less than rural market-rate rents, which \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.apartments.com\/blog\/states-with-the-cheapest-rent\u0022\u003Etypically run $800-$1,100 per month\u003C\/a\u003E for modest homes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/nlihc.org\/sites\/default\/files\/AG-2025\/4-131_USDA-Rural-Rental-Housing-Programs.pdf\u0022\u003EUSDA stopped issuing new Section 515 loans in 2011\u003C\/a\u003E, this arrangement is phasing out now as existing loans mature.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELoans for about \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ruralhome.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/storage\/documents\/publications\/rrreports\/rental_housing_for_a_21st_century_rural_america_ui.pdf\u0022\u003E90% of all remaining Section 515 homes\u003C\/a\u003E will mature by 2045, according to the Housing\u2002Assistance Council, a national nonprofit that supports affordable housing efforts throughout rural America. By 2050, the owners of nearly all properties currently in the program\u2019s portfolio are projected to have paid off their mortgages.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd once most of the owners of these homes exit the Section 515 program, it will have been fully phased out.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe class=\u0022tc-infographic-datawrapper\u0022 style=\u0022border-width:0;\u0022 id=\u00226NXiF\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/6NXiF\/1\/\u0022 height=\u0022400px\u0022 width=\u0022100%\u0022 scrolling=\u0022no\u0022 frameborder=\u00220\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EAn Often-Overlooked Housing Program\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/c9f0cadc-5bb4-5b6f-9eca-bd38a9233993\u0022\u003Epublic policy professor who studies housing\u003C\/a\u003E, I wanted to understand what happens when Section 515 loans mature. I also was interested in what determines whether properties remain affordable or leave the program after the loans are paid off.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo find out, I worked with three other housing policy researchers on a national study that was \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/10511482.2025.2531878\u0022\u003Epeer-reviewed and published\u003C\/a\u003E in Housing Policy Debate in September 2025.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs of 2024, these loans were still supporting \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pfs2.acl.gov\/strapib\/assets\/Rural_Housing_Programs_Chapter_Summary_50076d51da.pdf\u0022\u003Esome 400,000 homes\u003C\/a\u003E on almost \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/32-2024-RHS.pdf\u0022\u003E13,000 properties\u003C\/a\u003E across \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.rd.usda.gov\/media\/file\/download\/hac-mfh-ta-fact-sheet.pdf\u0022\u003E87% of all U.S. counties\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe roughly 750,000 Americans in those homes are among the nation\u2019s poorest. The average household income of someone living in Section 515 housing in 2023 was just about $16,000 per year, which was \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/seekingalpha.com\/article\/4655566-median-household-income-in-october-2023\u0022\u003Eonly about one-fifth of the national median household income\u003C\/a\u003E, which hovered around $76,600 during the same period in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to having a very low income, more than 60% of the people enrolled in the program are \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nhlp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Rural-Preservation-Handbook.pdf\u0022\u003Eover 62, have disabilities, or fall into both\u003C\/a\u003E of those categories.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EMarket-Rate Options After Maturity\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe vast majority of these affordable rental homes were built in the 1970s through the 1990s and financed with USDA loans that \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cura.umn.edu\/research\/usda-section-515-program-quantitative-analysis\u0022\u003Elast between 30 and 50 years\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy 2050, there will be no Section 515 housing left.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe owners of these rental properties no longer have to keep rents affordable once they have paid off their loans. And their owners and tenants may also \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.rd.usda.gov\/programs-services\/multifamily-housing-programs\/multifamily-housing-rental-assistancee\u0022\u003Elose access to a USDA rental assistance\u003C\/a\u003E program, which helps keep tenants\u2019 housing costs low.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey can refinance the homes or sell\u2002the properties. They also can continue to charge affordable rents to occupants or convert those units to market rate. Because of this flexibility, a large share of rural affordable housing units could soon be converted to properties rented at market rates.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhat the Data Shows So Far\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor this study, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/10511482.2025.2531878\u0022\u003Eour research team analyzed data\u003C\/a\u003E from nearly 15,000 of the Section 515 properties throughout the country, which have been placed in service since 1963 \u2013 including many that are no longer providing rural affordable housing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe found that the largest factors determining whether a building remains affordable after a Section 515 loan matures are who owns and manages\u2002that property. Buildings owned by for-profit companies are far more likely to leave the program than those that belong to nonprofit housing organizations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENonprofit-owned\u2002buildings, after accounting for building age and local market conditions, are 30% to 40% less likely to convert formerly Section 515 affordable housing into market-rate properties after the owners pay off their loans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter analyzing this data, we also concluded that buildings run by small property management companies are more likely to leave the program than those managed by larger ones. Properties where the owner manages the homes are also more likely to exit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELandlords owning more residential properties were also more likely to exit the program. This indicates that larger landlords may be able to afford the renovations and upgrades required to turn their buildings into market-rate housing once restrictions end.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cfigure class=\u0022align-center zoomable\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/721319\/original\/file-20260302-71-tbznw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0\u0026amp;rect=0%2C124%2C8256%2C4644\u0026amp;q=45\u0026amp;auto=format\u0026amp;w=1000\u0026amp;fit=clip\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\u0022A symbolic wooden house, containg a stack of $1 bills and a money bag with a dollar symbol, sits next to an alarm clock in a grocery cart.\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/721319\/original\/file-20260302-71-tbznw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0\u0026amp;rect=0%2C124%2C8256%2C4644\u0026amp;q=45\u0026amp;auto=format\u0026amp;w=754\u0026amp;fit=clip\u0022 srcset=\u0022https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/721319\/original\/file-20260302-71-tbznw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0\u0026amp;q=45\u0026amp;auto=format\u0026amp;w=600\u0026amp;h=356\u0026amp;fit=crop\u0026amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/721319\/original\/file-20260302-71-tbznw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0\u0026amp;q=30\u0026amp;auto=format\u0026amp;w=600\u0026amp;h=356\u0026amp;fit=crop\u0026amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/721319\/original\/file-20260302-71-tbznw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0\u0026amp;q=15\u0026amp;auto=format\u0026amp;w=600\u0026amp;h=356\u0026amp;fit=crop\u0026amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/721319\/original\/file-20260302-71-tbznw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0\u0026amp;q=45\u0026amp;auto=format\u0026amp;w=754\u0026amp;h=447\u0026amp;fit=crop\u0026amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/721319\/original\/file-20260302-71-tbznw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0\u0026amp;q=30\u0026amp;auto=format\u0026amp;w=754\u0026amp;h=447\u0026amp;fit=crop\u0026amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/721319\/original\/file-20260302-71-tbznw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0\u0026amp;q=15\u0026amp;auto=format\u0026amp;w=754\u0026amp;h=447\u0026amp;fit=crop\u0026amp;dpr=3 2262w\u0022 sizes=\u0022(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cfigcaption\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022caption\u0022\u003ETime is running out on the nation\u2019s main affordable housing program in rural areas.\u003C\/span\u003E \u003Ca class=\u0022source\u0022 href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/photo\/symbolic-wooden-house-a-stack-of-us1-bills-and-a-royalty-free-image\/2206515182?adppopup=true\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022attribution\u0022\u003EMax Zolotukhin\/iStock via Getty Images Plus\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhy Subsidies and Local Markets Matter\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHaving subsidies through other government programs can help keep affordable housing units from being converted to market-rate housing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne-third of Section 515 properties also get support from other programs, including \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hud.gov\/helping-americans\/housing-choice-vouchers-tenants\u0022\u003ESection 8 vouchers\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.novoco.com\/resource-centers\/affordable-housing-tax-credits\/about-lihtc\u0022\u003Elow-income housing tax credits\u003C\/a\u003E. Those tax credits are another federal incentive that\u2019s provided to developers who build and rehabilitate affordable rental housing while allowing lower rents for low-income tenants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThose properties are more likely to remain affordable, even years after some of these tax incentives expire.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELocal economic conditions can play a role too. In areas with high unemployment rates, large military populations and low housing inventory, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/10511482.2025.2531878\u0022\u003Eproperties are also more likely to exit\u003C\/a\u003E the program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat means the same rural counties experiencing economic or demographic pressures are often the most likely to have a decline in affordable housing units when owners pay off their Section 515 loans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ESteps That Can Be Taken\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECongress and the USDA have \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.us-hc.com\/blogs\/rhs-makes-funds-available-for-section-515-demonstration-program\/\u0022\u003Etaken some steps\u003C\/a\u003E to slow the loss of affordable housing in rural areas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the USDA has funded preservation efforts such as the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.rd.usda.gov\/programs-services\/multifamily-housing-programs\/multifamily-preservation-and-revitalization-mpr\u0022\u003EMultifamily Housing Preservation and Revitalization\u003C\/a\u003E pilot program, which provides grants, loan restructuring and other financing tools to help repair aging Section 515 properties and extend their affordability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese efforts have helped preserve some buildings and support ownership transfers from private sector landlords to nonprofit housing groups. But they spend only tens of millions of dollars per year and focus mainly on maintaining existing properties rather than building new housing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers estimate that \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs_external_products\/R\/PDF\/R47044\/R47044.1.pdf\u0022\u003Eabout $5.6 billion in repairs\u003C\/a\u003E would be needed to preserve the affordable housing currently tied to the Section 515 program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome lawmakers have proposed reforms aimed at doing more than chipping away at the loss of this kind of affordable housing. The bipartisan \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.naco.org\/news\/congressional-leaders-reintroduce-bipartisan-bill-protect-rural-housing\u0022\u003ERural Housing Service Reform Act\u003C\/a\u003E, first introduced in 2023 and reintroduced in 2025, would modernize USDA rural housing programs and allow certain rental assistance contracts to continue after mortgages mature. As of early 2026, the bill remains under consideration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver the next two decades, most of these landlords will pay off their Section 515 loans. Unless the government reinvigorates the program or replaces it with something else, much of rural America\u2019s affordable rental housing could gradually disappear as owners convert all Section 515 properties to market-rate housing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhether rural communities retain affordable housing will depend not only on what the federal government does, but also on the properties\u2019 owners.\u003C!-- Below is The Conversation\u0027s page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --\u003E\u003Cimg style=\u0022border-color:!important;border-style:none;box-shadow:none !important;margin:0 !important;max-height:1px !important;max-width:1px !important;min-height:1px !important;min-width:1px !important;opacity:0 !important;outline:none !important;padding:0 !important;\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/273637\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\u0022 alt=\u0022The Conversation\u0022 width=\u00221\u0022 height=\u00221\u0022 referrerpolicy=\u0022no-referrer-when-downgrade\u0022\u003E\u003C!-- End of code. If you don\u0027t see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article is republished from \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Conversation\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E under a Creative Commons license. Read the \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/a-successful-usda-program-that-has-supported-more-than-533-000-affordable-rental-homes-in-rural-america-is-getting-phased-out-273637\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Eoriginal article\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"full_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe high cost of renting and buying homes in U.S. cities is no secret. But this affordability problem isn\u2019t limited to urban regions \u2013 it affects rural areas as well.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The high cost of renting and buying homes in U.S. cities is no secret. But this affordability problem isn\u2019t limited to urban regions \u2013 it affects rural areas as well."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2026-03-12 17:07:54","changed_gmt":"2026-08-14 16:36:52","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-03-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-03-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"679671":{"id":"679671","type":"image","title":"Low-income Americans in rural areas can struggle to pay market-rate rents. mphillips007\/iStock via Getty Images Plus","body":"\u003Cp\u003ELow-income Americans in rural areas can struggle to pay market-rate rents. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/photo\/housing-market-inflation-and-interest-rates-royalty-free-image\/1395524032?adppopup=true\u0022\u003Emphillips007\/iStock via Getty Images Plus\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1773853784","gmt_created":"2026-03-18 17:09:44","changed":"1773853784","gmt_changed":"2026-03-18 17:09:44","alt":"Low-income Americans in rural areas can struggle to pay market-rate rents. mphillips007\/iStock via Getty Images Plus","file":{"fid":"263860","name":"file-20260302-57-nqoztj.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/03\/18\/file-20260302-57-nqoztj.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/03\/18\/file-20260302-57-nqoztj.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":125948,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/03\/18\/file-20260302-57-nqoztj.jpg?itok=Yq-cZ8Mz"}}},"media_ids":["679671"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/a-successful-usda-program-that-has-supported-more-than-533-000-affordable-rental-homes-in-rural-america-is-getting-phased-out-273637","title":"Read This Article on The Conversation"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"},{"id":"1280","name":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"194974","name":"go-theconversation"},{"id":"188853","name":"go-seiinthenews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Ch5\u003EAuthor:\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/brian-y-an-1461778\u0022\u003EBrian Y. An\u003C\/a\u003E, Co-Director of Center for Urban Research, Director of Master of Science in Public Policy Program, and Assistant Professor of Public Policy, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/georgia-institute-of-technology-1310\u0022\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5\u003EMedia Contact:\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShelley Wunder-Smith\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:shelley.wunder-smith@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eshelley.wunder-smith@research.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691666":{"#nid":"691666","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Cybersecurity Imperative in Smart Factories ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs manufacturing systems become more connected, the cyberthreat grows with them. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/directory\/saman-zonouz\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESaman Zonouz\u003C\/a\u003E has spent years documenting how vulnerable smart manufacturing environments are. He\u2019s an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, where he co-leads the Cyber-Physical Security Lab with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/provost.gatech.edu\/about-the-provost\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ERaheem Beyah\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech\u2019s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Disrupting the manufacturing sector doesn\u0027t just shut down individual shops. It can directly impact national security and public safety,\u0022 Zonouz said. Because manufacturing is one of 16 federally designated critical infrastructure sectors, it is deeply intertwined with energy, water, and defense, meaning disruptions can cascade far beyond the factory floor.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe threats Zonouz documents go beyond ransomware. His research has demonstrated how adversaries can insert logic bombs into design files, compromising Computer Numerical Control machines or 3D printers.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ve shown how logic bombs can be inserted remotely into design files so that everything looks normal when the part is printed, but once it\u0027s in operation, the attacker can decide when it fails,\u0022 Zonouz said, citing drone propellers, aircraft wings, and power grid transformer components as examples where invisible sabotage could have catastrophic consequences.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInternet-wide scans conducted by his team found that many shop-floor controllers are directly exposed to the internet, with no meaningful barrier between an adversary and the machines running a production line. Imported equipment compounds the risk, because controllers and firmware from unknown developers may carry unintentional vulnerabilities or deliberately planted backdoors. \u0022In manufacturing, many controllers and machines can still be accessed easily from outside,\u0022 Zonouz said, echoing the kind of supply chain exposure seen in high-profile attacks on widely used software platforms.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis prescription is straightforward but still largely unimplemented across the sector: Build security into the system design rather than adding it afterward. \u0022The number one principle is to think about cybersecurity and risk when you design the system, not as an afterthought once everything is already built,\u0022 Zonouz said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis team has explored this through the $65 million \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/georgiaaim.org\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia AIM initiative\u003C\/a\u003E, a collaboration with Aaron Stebner, Steven Ferguson, and Animesh Chhotaray, led by Ph.D. student Twisha Chattopadhyay. Using AI for automated anomaly detection allows complex production lines to be monitored continuously without requiring constant human oversight.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s standing at the intersection of manufacturing and cybersecurity is, by most measures, singular. \u0022Georgia Tech is the only top university with a dedicated School of Cybersecurity and Privacy, with about 30 professors focused solely on cybersecurity, and you rarely see this level of collaboration between cybersecurity and manufacturing faculty anywhere else,\u0022 Zonouz said. That collaboration is already producing joint publications and a patent application for AI-driven attack detection systems developed through Georgia AIM.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENot every attacker wants a quick payoff. Zonouz also tracks advanced persistent threats, where a nation-state actor quietly compromises a controller and does nothing for months, waiting for the right geopolitical moment to act. \u0022They get into the house and just sit there, because by sitting still nobody can detect them,\u0022 Zonouz said. That patience turns an idle, exposed controller into tomorrow\u0027s leverage.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Manufacturers do not need to solve every problem at once,\u0022 Zonouz said. Finance and energy already operate under mandatory cybersecurity frameworks, while manufacturing\u0027s own standard, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, is still being phased in. \u0022The security of these systems right now is so weak that basic, easy-to-deploy solutions would stop the majority of attacks that are succeeding simply because the door is wide open,\u0022 he said. The hardest attacks will always be the patient, targeted ones, and closing the obvious gaps first is what buys manufacturers time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs manufacturing becomes more connected, Saman Zonouz\u2019s research shows why cybersecurity must be built into industrial systems from the start, before hidden vulnerabilities become threats to production, public safety, and national security.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"As manufacturing becomes more connected, Saman Zonouz\u2019s research shows why cybersecurity must be built into industrial systems from the start, before hidden vulnerabilities become threats to production, public safety, and national security."}],"uid":"36757","created_gmt":"2026-08-13 19:23:46","changed_gmt":"2026-08-14 15:24:23","author":"ychernet3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680875":{"id":"680875","type":"image","title":"26-R10410-P134-059--2-.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech doctoral candidates Neel Shah and Jamila Khanfri discuss how smart factories have the potential to autonomously incorporate domain expertise into additive manufacturing process development, saving industry partners time and money.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1786715179","gmt_created":"2026-08-14 13:46:19","changed":"1786715179","gmt_changed":"2026-08-14 13:46:19","alt":"Georgia Tech doctoral candidates Neel Shah and Jamila Khanfri in discussion","file":{"fid":"265205","name":"26-R10410-P134-059--2-.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/14\/26-R10410-P134-059--2-.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/14\/26-R10410-P134-059--2-.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4555456,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/14\/26-R10410-P134-059--2-.jpg?itok=g2qupnzh"}}},"media_ids":["680875"],"groups":[{"id":"155831","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jennifer.martin@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJennifer Martin\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EAssistant Director of Research Communications Services\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EWriter: Anne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691665":{"#nid":"691665","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Smart Factories Aren\u0027t Coming. They\u0027re Here. ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. has seen its printed circuit board market share plummet to 4% while becoming dangerously dependent on foreign rare earth processing. Now, with global supply chains fracturing, defense industrial capacity under pressure, and adversaries looking to dominate advanced production, the country is in a race to rebuild \u2014 and to rebuild smarter.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETwo converging trends are shaping what that looks like on the factory floor. The first is the rise of the lighthouse factory, where AI-driven systems, autonomous mobile robots, and centralized digital control work with a skilled human workforce rather than replacing it. The second is physical AI, in which machine learning moves off the server rack and into the manufacturing process itself, making real-time decisions at the machine level that no human operator could match at scale. Together, these shifts are rewriting the economics and the security calculus of American production.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the forefront of both is the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/manufacturing.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)\u003C\/a\u003E and its Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF), a first-of-its-kind, shared-use facility at a research university that is already doing what federal agencies are only beginning to fund. The AMPF is the proving ground where new manufacturing solutions are stress-tested before they reach the shop floor \u2014 where a scrap rate that plagued a major automobile supplier was cut in half in 45 days, and where capabilities are being realized faster than ever thought possible.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The expectation was that building a capability like this would take decades,\u0022 said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/steven-ferguson\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESteven Ferguson\u003C\/a\u003E, principal research scientist and GTMI deputy director. \u0022Instead, we\u0027ve compressed that timeline dramatically and are already applying these technologies to solve real manufacturing challenges.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe future Ferguson describes has already displaced the old \u201clights\u2011out\u201d myth of fully dark, fully automated factories. What modern smart manufacturing demands is tighter integration between machines and the people who define what those machines should accomplish.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia is well positioned to lead that charge. According to the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gamfg.org\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Association of Manufacturing\u003C\/a\u003E, the state supports more than 426,000 manufacturing jobs with average earnings of $86,372, contributing $77.1 billion to the state\u0027s gross regional product. Projected employment growth of 8% between 2024 and 2029 reflects not just expansion but transformation; the sector needs a different kind of worker, and a different kind of research partner than it did a generation ago.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTMI and the AMPF have staked out a national leadership position in exactly those capabilities. The facility is pioneering the deployment of physical AI in a university R\u0026amp;D and demonstration environment, using machine learning to monitor and adjust manufacturing processes in real time. When printing a component from a $30,000 barrel of specialty powder or a newly developed superalloy, a process failure is not acceptable. AI-driven systems continuously analyze thousands of optical, thermal, acoustic, and process signals to identify patterns, optimize performance, and detect anomalies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In an R\u0026amp;D facility, you program it once, and it changes a million times,\u0022 Ferguson said. \u0022We\u0027re using AI and mobile robots to intelligently coordinate production scheduling, material movement, and manufacturing processes, all while humans define the experiments and interpret the results.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe facility also connects the full innovation chain from materials discovery through manufacturing process to quality assurance, demonstrating in one space what others are still planning.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESmart Manufacturing as a National Security Imperative\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe stakes extend well beyond production efficiency. Ferguson points to pandemic-era chip shortages that left tens of thousands of finished vehicles waiting on a single component and to current constraints on the critical minerals and chips needed to build AI data centers and defense systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our ability to manufacture at scale underpins both our economic competitiveness and our national security,\u0022 he said. \u0022If we can\u0027t build what we need when we need it, we\u0027re at a strategic disadvantage.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom the Shop Floor: IAC Group\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tom-f-boney\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ETom Boney\u003C\/a\u003E, chief operating officer for the Americas at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iacgroup.com\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EIAC Group\u003C\/a\u003E, the question wasn\u2019t whether to modernize; it was who could help the company move fast enough to keep plants competitive and workers employed. Georgia Tech, he said, offered something IAC couldn\u2019t build on its own.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech brings the brains and computing power we don\u2019t have,\u201d Boney said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got some of the smartest people in the world on that campus, plugged into world-class infrastructure, and we put them side by side with our operators on the shop floor.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn automotive interior components manufacturer with plants across the U.S., Mexico, and beyond, IAC is competing daily with facilities in lower-cost regions. \u201cFor us, smart manufacturing and AI are really about job and plant future security,\u201d Boney said. \u201cWe\u2019re competing every day with plants in China, Mexico, and the U.S., and we already have tons of production data, but we can\u2019t analyze it fast enough on our own.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIAC\u2019s first project with GTMI focused on a complex adhesive manufacturing process at a plant in Vance, Alabama. The facility had rich production data but lacked computational power and AI modeling to act on it in real time. GTMI students and researchers connected Georgia Tech\u2019s systems directly to the plant\u2019s equipment, working with line operators. The result was a 50% reduction in scrap in roughly 45 days, with those gains then extended to other IAC locations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe pace of the partnership was another sign that this wasn\u2019t a typical university engagement. A framework agreement that usually takes 12 to 15 months was executed in 35 days, enabling the two organizations to move through new project cycles quickly. IAC now runs five active projects with GTMI, each advancing in turn or making way for the next initiative, a cadence Boney sees as essential to staying competitive on the factory floor.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBuilding the Workforce of Tomorrow\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIAC\u2019s success with GTMI underscores a hard truth: technology can unlock new performance, but only if there\u2019s a workforce ready to run it. Technology alone cannot sustain a manufacturing renaissance. Ferguson is candid about the workforce challenge posed by automation, particularly the erosion of entry-level roles that once served as the first rung of a career ladder.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The industry has an image problem. People still picture dark, dirty, and dangerous, when the reality is safer, cleaner, and far more interesting,\u0022 Ferguson said. \u0022Now we\u0027re trying to convince kids, \u0027You don\u0027t have to, you get to.\u0027 We don\u0027t need button pushers. We need thinkers and creators working alongside robots.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTMI\u0027s response runs from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/manufacturing.gatech.edu\/k-12-resources\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EK-12 engagement\u003C\/a\u003E through technical college partnerships to university engineering programs at Georgia Tech, UGA, Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State, and others. For example, UGA partnered with the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE) to launch the Georgia AIM Mobile Studio. This traveling advanced-technology lab visits K-12 schools across the state to give students hands-on experience with interactive engineering vignettes and robotics. Teacher boot camps bring high school educators to campus for hands-on training in CAD design, CNC milling, and additive manufacturing, equipping them to return to their classrooms as informed advocates. Dual-enrollment pathways through Georgia\u0027s Technical College System give students an on-ramp well before they graduate from high school.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EThis workforce strategy extends beyond traditional education. Through programs such as Advanced Manufacturing Pathways, teacher professional development, dual-enrollment partnerships, undergraduate research experiences, graduate research opportunities, and industry-sponsored projects, GTMI is helping develop the technicians, engineers, researchers, and manufacturing leaders needed to support the nation\u0027s next generation of smart factories.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the workforce pipeline is only one strand of a much larger web. The AMPF is also where partners pressure-test how AI, automation, and new materials behave under real-world constraints like cost, quality, uptime, safety, and security. At GTMI, AI-driven process control, autonomous material handling, critical-mineral research, and cyber-physical security work in concert to create trusted, resilient production capacity that can scale when it counts, whether that means building lightweight components for vehicles, accelerating drone production to meet national needs, or hardening the critical infrastructure that underpins defense and the economy.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn that context, smart manufacturing is no longer a niche technical initiative. It is the connective tissue between research labs, industry partners, and national readiness, and a platform for new kinds of careers. GTMI\u2019s role is to ensure that those connections are real, tested, and ready to perform under pressure, while opening doors for students, teachers, and workers who will run the next generation of factories. In Georgia, that ecosystem is already taking shape on the ground.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"From physical AI to cybersecure factory design, Georgia Tech\u0027s Manufacturing Institute is setting the pace for the next era of American production. "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom physical AI to cybersecure factory design, Georgia Tech\u0027s Manufacturing Institute is setting the pace for the next era of American production.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"From physical AI to cybersecure factory design, Georgia Tech\u0027s Manufacturing Institute is setting the pace for the next era of American production. "}],"uid":"36757","created_gmt":"2026-08-13 19:07:32","changed_gmt":"2026-08-14 15:23:50","author":"ychernet3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680875":{"id":"680875","type":"image","title":"26-R10410-P134-059--2-.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech doctoral candidates Neel Shah and Jamila Khanfri discuss how smart factories have the potential to autonomously incorporate domain expertise into additive manufacturing process development, saving industry partners time and money.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1786715179","gmt_created":"2026-08-14 13:46:19","changed":"1786715179","gmt_changed":"2026-08-14 13:46:19","alt":"Georgia Tech doctoral candidates Neel Shah and Jamila Khanfri in discussion","file":{"fid":"265205","name":"26-R10410-P134-059--2-.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/14\/26-R10410-P134-059--2-.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/14\/26-R10410-P134-059--2-.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4555456,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/14\/26-R10410-P134-059--2-.jpg?itok=g2qupnzh"}}},"media_ids":["680875"],"groups":[{"id":"155831","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jennifer.martin@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJennifer Martin\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EAssistant Director of Research Communications Services\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EWriter: Anne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"687534":{"#nid":"687534","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Cryogenic Vacuum Chamber Cuts Noise for Quantum Ion Trapping","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEven very slight environmental noise, such as microscopic vibrations or magnetic field fluctuations a hundred times smaller than the Earth\u2019s magnetic field, can be catastrophic for quantum computing experiments with trapped ions.\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo address that challenge, researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed an improved cryogenic vacuum chamber that helps reduce some common noise sources by isolating ions from vibrations and shielding them from magnetic field fluctuations. The new chamber also incorporates an improved imaging system and a radio frequency (RF) coil that can be used to drive ion transitions from within the chamber.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of excitement around quantum computing today, and trapped ions are just one of the research platforms available, each with their own benefits and drawbacks,\u201d explained Darian Hartsell, a GTRI research scientist who leads the project. \u201cWe are trying to mitigate multiple sources of noise in this chamber and make other improvements with one robust new design.\u201d\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe chamber design is described in a paper published January 20, 2026 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EApplied Physics Letters\u003C\/em\u003E. Some of the technical improvements developed for the project are already being applied at GTRI and collaborating organizations. This work was done in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory.\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe goal of the vibration isolation is to reduce the laser amplitude and phase noise when addressing the ions, increasing operation fidelity. The goal of the magnetic field noise reduction is to preserve the coherence of qubits for longer periods of time so researchers can use them for more complex algorithms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/newsroom\/new-cryogenic-vacuum-chamber-cuts-noise-quantum-ion-trapping\u0022\u003ESee the complete article on the GTRI news site\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Chamber also incorporates improved imaging"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have developed an improved vacuum chamber that reduces noise for quantum ion trapping research.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed an improved vacuum chamber that reduces noise for quantum ion trapping research."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2026-01-21 15:56:39","changed_gmt":"2026-08-13 20:05:30","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-01-21T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2026-01-21T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"679046":{"id":"679046","type":"image","title":"Researcher tests improved vacuum chamber for ion trapping","body":"\u003Cp\u003EGTRI Research Scientist Darian Hartsell makes adjustments to an improved cryogenic vacuum chamber that helps reduce some common noise sources by isolating ions from vibrations and shielding them from magnetic field fluctuations. (Credit: Sean McNeil, GTRI)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1769010196","gmt_created":"2026-01-21 15:43:16","changed":"1769010565","gmt_changed":"2026-01-21 15:49:25","alt":"Researcher tests improved vacuum chamber","file":{"fid":"263158","name":"Vacuum-Chamber_06.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/01\/21\/Vacuum-Chamber_06.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/01\/21\/Vacuum-Chamber_06.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2603620,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/01\/21\/Vacuum-Chamber_06.jpg?itok=ugZaqaeJ"}}},"media_ids":["679046"],"groups":[{"id":"660410","name":"Quantum"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"id":"193652","name":"Matter and Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["gtri.media@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"689446":{"#nid":"689446","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI Supports Initiative to Assess Quantum Computing Efforts","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EQuantum computers may one day enable revolutionary advances in fluid dynamics, drug discovery, development of better agricultural fertilizers, improved materials design and other technical areas that are beyond the capabilities of today\u2019s conventional computers. To reach those goals, companies from around the world are pursuing a variety of approaches aimed at developing large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers.\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe approaches of over a dozen quantum computing companies are now being evaluated through the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), a project of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). According to the agency, QBI \u201caims to rigorously verify and validate whether any quantum computing approach can achieve utility-scale operation \u2013 meaning its computational value exceeds its cost \u2013 by the year 2033.\u201d\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESupporting the effort, a 40-person interdisciplinary research team from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has joined the test and evaluation component of QBI, providing unbiased subject-matter experts to work with 13 other research organizations in evaluating the R\u0026amp;D plans of participating quantum computer companies. Through this collaboration, the GTRI team is working with more than 400 other third-party experts on the project.\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/newsroom\/gtri-supports-initiative-assess-quantum-computing-efforts\u0022\u003ERead the complete article on the GTRI news site\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe approaches of over a dozen quantum computing companies are now being evaluated through the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), a project of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). GTRI researchers are supporting the initiative.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are supporting a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiative to evaluate different approaches to quantum computing."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2026-04-03 17:29:16","changed_gmt":"2026-08-13 20:05:05","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-04-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-04-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"679845":{"id":"679845","type":"image","title":"Quantum computing could enable revolutionary advances in numerous technology areas","body":"\u003Cp\u003EQuantum computers may one day enable revolutionary advances in fluid dynamics, drug discovery, development of better agricultural fertilizers, improved materials design and other technical areas. (Credit: Tim Hynes)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1775236418","gmt_created":"2026-04-03 17:13:38","changed":"1775236825","gmt_changed":"2026-04-03 17:20:25","alt":"Quantum research and potential benefits","file":{"fid":"264053","name":"Quantum_banner_03B_03-web.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/03\/Quantum_banner_03B_03-web.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/03\/Quantum_banner_03B_03-web.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":839777,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/04\/03\/Quantum_banner_03B_03-web.jpg?itok=QRIkBs4z"}}},"media_ids":["679845"],"groups":[{"id":"660410","name":"Quantum"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["gtri.media@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691631":{"#nid":"691631","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How Does Wildfire Smoke Affect the Economy?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWildfires in the United States are getting bigger and the season is getting longer, fueled by hotter and drier weather from climate change. Even when fires are hundreds of miles away, the wildfire smoke can still harm people\u0027s health and create economic costs through air pollution, said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.caseyjwichman.com\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003ECasey Wichman,\u003C\/a\u003E an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Economics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Air Quality Index (AQI) measures how clean or polluted the air is. A healthy AQI is between zero and 50, but when wildfire smoke blows in and settles over cities, the AQI can reach levels of 500 or more. Poor air quality changes where and how people spend their time and money, reduces productivity (even for those working indoors), and increases healthcare costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEnvironmental regulations like the Clean Air Act dramatically improved our air quality over the past 40 years, but as wildfire season becomes the new normal, wildfire smoke is eroding those gains,\u201d Wichman said. According to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-023-06522-6\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003Erecent research,\u003C\/a\u003E wildfire smoke has erased about a quarter of the progress made over previous decades, and more than half in many western states.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/featured-news\/2026\/08\/wildfire-smoke-affect-economy\u0022\u003ERead Full Story on the IAC News Page\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWildfires in the United States are getting bigger and the season is getting longer, fueled by hotter and drier weather from climate change. Even when fires are hundreds of miles away, the wildfire smoke can still harm people\u0027s health and create economic costs through air pollution, said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.caseyjwichman.com\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003ECasey Wichman,\u003C\/a\u003E an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Economics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Air Quality Index (AQI) measures how clean or polluted the air is. A healthy AQI is between zero and 50, but when wildfire smoke blows in and settles over cities, the AQI can reach levels of 500 or more. Poor air quality changes where and how people spend their time and money, reduces productivity (even for those working indoors), and increases healthcare costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEnvironmental regulations like the Clean Air Act dramatically improved our air quality over the past 40 years, but as wildfire season becomes the new normal, wildfire smoke is eroding those gains,\u201d Wichman said. According to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-023-06522-6\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003Erecent research,\u003C\/a\u003E wildfire smoke has erased about a quarter of the progress made over previous decades, and more than half in many western states.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech economist Casey Wichman explains how increased wildfire smoke from climate change affects spending, productivity, and healthcare costs."}],"uid":"36413","created_gmt":"2026-08-12 19:02:31","changed_gmt":"2026-08-12 19:06:07","author":"pdevarajan3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680847":{"id":"680847","type":"image","title":"CaseyWichmanSQUARE--40-.png","body":"\u003Cp\u003ECasey Wichman, Associate Professor, Georgia Tech School of Economics.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1786561359","gmt_created":"2026-08-12 19:02:39","changed":"1786561359","gmt_changed":"2026-08-12 19:02:39","alt":"Casey Wichman, Associate Professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Economics.","file":{"fid":"265174","name":"CaseyWichmanSQUARE--40-.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/12\/CaseyWichmanSQUARE--40-.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/12\/CaseyWichmanSQUARE--40-.png","mime":"image\/png","size":448644,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/12\/CaseyWichmanSQUARE--40-.png?itok=GxjiNJf0"}}},"media_ids":["680847"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/featured-news\/2026\/08\/wildfire-smoke-affect-economy","title":"Read Full Story on IAC News Page"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"},{"id":"1280","name":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691226":{"#nid":"691226","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Helps Advance Genesis Mission, a National Effort to Transform Scientific Discovery Through AI","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp lang=\u0022EN-US\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech will play a key role in the newly announced \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/undersecretaryforscience\/genesis-mission\/genesis-mission\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGenesis Mission\u003C\/a\u003E, a national initiative harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to propel scientific discovery and address challenges in health, energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, and national security. The White House announced the first Genesis Mission projects on July 22 as part of a more than $5 billion investment in AI-enabled science and technology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech was chosen for multiple Genesis Mission awards. Faculty will lead two projects and collaborate on others with research partners across the country.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cArtificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how we conduct research and drive discovery,\u201d said Tim Lieuwen, Georgia Tech\u2019s executive vice president for Research. \u201cThese awards recognize Georgia Tech\u2019s leadership in AI, advanced computing, engineering, and the sciences. By bringing together expertise from across our colleges and research units, we can help accelerate breakthroughs in areas that are crucial to the nation\u2019s future \u2014 from energy and manufacturing to health and critical infrastructure.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022eef48fed33303f787f2d03a09ca3172ed\u0022\u003EAmeet Pinto, associate professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and faculty director for interdisciplinary research and collaboration for the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, will lead \u201cAI-Enabled Single Cell Phenotyping to Advance Biomanufacturing.\u201d The project aims to advance AI-enabled approaches for understanding biological systems and strengthening next-generation biomanufacturing capabilities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e394fd872589e430e8a7f12ca5d6a40d2\u0022\u003EFan Zhang, assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, will lead the project, \u201cAI Driven Workflow with Cyber Assured Digital Twin for Autonomous Operations in SMRs and Microreactors.\u201d Her team will focus on developing AI-enabled digital twin technologies to support the safe, autonomous operation of advanced nuclear energy systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe additional Georgia Tech-supported awards span multiple disciplines and involve researchers from the Colleges of Engineering, Computing, and Sciences; the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems; the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines; the Institute for Data Engineering and Science; and the Strategic Energy Institute.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e7a92afba6dacd2d56dd5615804d907cf\u0022\u003EMarilyn Brown (Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will build AI foundation models that predict and test water-for-energy conditions in the Tennessee Valley Authority region.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e5ee3d514f06472b2bd8eed39853bf64e\u0022\u003EPeng Chen (School of Computational Science and Engineering) will collaborate on two projects designed to improve predictions of both water availability and flood risks. He will partner with ORNL and the Argonne National Laboratory.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e1bb31f256d17759aa5ead75ec2e02245\u0022\u003EAsif Khan (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering) will partner with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to accelerate the discovery of new materials for a type of computer memory called Electro-Chemical RAM (ECRAM) to help create more energy-efficient AI systems.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e2732e959fa01c6df4ef27eaccb18fd78\u0022\u003EFan Zhang\u2019s second Genesis Mission project is a collaboration with ORNL to develop AI tools for the lifecycle of fusion plants, including robotics and maintenance.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e940b6bc9dff007fbe6f6c84bebf1d591\u0022\u003ESamer Naif (School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) will collaborate with the University of Southern California on the project \u0022AI-enabled Geobiological Critical Minerals Characterization and Recovery in Geothermal Systems.\u0022\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022eba933b0a9119da9f1ce9b17ace8d422d\u0022\u003EShimeng Yu (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering) will partner with Duke University on the project, \u0022Neuromorphic Circuit Primitives for Robotic Embodied Physical AI.\u0022\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s role in the Genesis Mission highlights the Institute\u2019s strong interdisciplinary research approach, which brings together experts across many fields to solve complex problems and rapidly advance innovation.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENote: Selection for award negotiations does not constitute a final funding award. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, awards remain subject to successful negotiations and the availability of funding.\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.osti.gov\/-\/media\/funding\/pdf\/Awards-Lists\/2026\/GM-RFA-Awards-List.pdf\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/science.osti.gov\/-\/media\/funding\/pdf\/Awards-Lists\/2026\/GM-RFA-Awards-List.pdf\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Institute researchers will lead two projects and contribute to several others as part of the Department of Energy\u2019s $5 billion initiative. "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers will lead two projects and contribute to several others as part of the Department of Energy\u2019s $5 billion initiative.\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Institute researchers will lead two projects and contribute to several others as part of the Department of Energy\u2019s $5 billion initiative. "}],"uid":"27561","created_gmt":"2026-07-24 13:57:45","changed_gmt":"2026-08-12 12:24:53","author":"Angela Ayers","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-07-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-07-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680665":{"id":"680665","type":"image","title":"GT_Lab_GradStudent_LowEnergyChemSeperation.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EA Georgia Tech graduate student examines a hollow fiber membrane, used for low-energy chemical separation. New DOE Genesis Mission awards have bolstered innovative interdisciplinary work across the Institute, with Georgia Tech leading two projects and contributing to five more. (Photo: Rob Felt)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1784901576","gmt_created":"2026-07-24 13:59:36","changed":"1784903464","gmt_changed":"2026-07-24 14:31:04","alt":"Georgia Tech grad student holding a hollow fiber membrane that can be used for low-energy chemical separation.","file":{"fid":"264956","name":"GT_Lab_GradStudent_LowEnergyChemSeperation.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/24\/GT_Lab_GradStudent_LowEnergyChemSeperation.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/24\/GT_Lab_GradStudent_LowEnergyChemSeperation.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":241001,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/07\/24\/GT_Lab_GradStudent_LowEnergyChemSeperation.jpg?itok=Dxo9rLze"}}},"media_ids":["680665"],"groups":[{"id":"244191","name":"Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"545781","name":"Institute for Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"142761","name":"IRIM"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1280","name":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"188087","name":"go-irim"},{"id":"188360","name":"go-bbiss"},{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"193652","name":"Matter and Systems"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"194566","name":"Sustainable Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAngela Ayers\u003Cbr\u003EAVP of Research Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691627":{"#nid":"691627","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Model Teaches Workplace AI to Read More Like Humans","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EModern artificial intelligence (AI) platforms can summarize reports, analyze documents, and answer questions in seconds. But when information is spread across dozens of slides, charts, and tables, even advanced models can miss important details.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs many organizations and businesses are turning to AI to improve workplace efficiency, risk remains high. Between overlooked footnotes and misread graphics, small mistakes can have expensive consequences.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo address this challenge, researchers from Georgia Tech and J.P. Morgan developed SlideAgent. The new framework helps large language models (LLMs) better understand complex visual documents like presentation slide decks, brochures, and reports.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2510.26615\u0022\u003ESlideAgent\u003C\/a\u003E works by breaking documents into multiple levels, allowing the model to analyze both the big picture and the fine details. This human-inspired approach leads to more accurate and reliable interpretation than existing systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond improving workplace tools, SlideAgent also points to a broader shift in AI. Instead of building only larger and more powerful models, the work shows how smarter design and more efficient reasoning can improve performance.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMultimodal LLMs such as GPT, Gemini, and Claude, can save people time and reduce the mental effort required to understand these documents, but they remain imperfect,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ahren09.github.io\/\u0022\u003EYiqiao (Ahren) Jin\u003C\/a\u003E, a Ph.D. candidate in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Computational Science and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E (CSE).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn high-stakes fields such as finance, for example, misreading a number, overlooking a footnote, or making an incorrect comparison across pages could affect reporting, risk assessment, or strategic decisions.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tested SlideAgent on a wide range of real-world documents, including financial presentations, technical slides, and visual question-answering datasets.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe system consistently outperformed leading commercial models and open-source tools throughout the evaluation. In some cases, it improved accuracy by up to 10%. The gains were especially strong on more complex tasks, such as comparing information across slides or understanding how visuals relate to each other on a page.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe found the results very encouraging. SlideAgent reaches an improvement of 7.9% over its proprietary base model and 9.8% over the evaluated open-source base models,\u201d said Jin, the project\u2019s lead researcher.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese are meaningful gains given the strength of the underlying multimodal models and the difficulty of the tasks.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrent multimodal AI systems often process entire pages at once. This approach can lead to mistakes, such as miscounting items in a chart or overlooking important details in dense visuals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESlideAgent addresses this by mimicking how people read documents. Instead of treating each page as a single unit, the system looks at information at three levels: the full document, individual pages, and specific elements like charts, tables, and text blocks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA network of agents, each specialized for a specific level, divides and coordinates analysis. Then, SlideAgent combines outputs to build a structured understanding of the overall document. This allows it to answer questions more accurately and reason across multiple pages.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe central inspiration was how people naturally read a long presentation,\u201d Jin said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe first develop an understanding of the overall narrative, then identify the relevant pages or sections, and finally zoom in on individual charts, tables, or text blocks when precise evidence is needed.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work highlights a growing challenge with AI. As systems become more popular and more powerful, users increasingly discover the technology\u2019s limitations. This is especially true for real-world tasks that require structured reasoning and contextual understanding.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESlideAgent shows that better performance does not always come from building bigger models. Instead, it points to smarter ways of organizing how AI processes information that can lead to improvement.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) accepted SlideAgent for presentation at its annual meeting. The 64th \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/2026.aclweb.org\/\u0022\u003EACL 2026 meeting\u003C\/a\u003E took place July 2-7 in San Diego.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EACL is a scientific and professional organization for researchers in natural language processing (NLP). Its namesake conference is one of the world\u2019s leading venues for presenting NLP research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EACL 2026 followed a year after Jin completed an internship at J.P. Morgan AI Research, where he worked on SlideAgent. He interned under \u003Cstrong\u003ERachneet Kaur\u003C\/strong\u003E, \u003Cstrong\u003EZhen Zeng\u003C\/strong\u003E, and \u003Cstrong\u003ESumitra Ganesh\u003C\/strong\u003E, all co-authors of the paper. School of CSE Associate Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/faculty.cc.gatech.edu\/~srijan\/\u0022\u003ESrijan Kumar\u003C\/a\u003E advises Jin at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlong with SlideAgent, Jin authored two other papers accepted at ACL 2026.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cConferences such as ACL are valuable not only for sharing results, but also for refining future project ideas with the broader community. Discussions across institutions and research areas can reveal limitations, suggest new evaluations, and spark collaborations that are difficult to develop in isolation,\u201d Jin said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor SlideAgent, I was particularly interested in feedback on how we can make the framework more computationally efficient without sacrificing accuracy or interpretability.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EModern artificial intelligence (AI) platforms can summarize reports, analyze documents, and answer questions in seconds. But when information is spread across dozens of slides, charts, and tables, even advanced models can miss important details.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs many organizations and businesses are turning to AI to improve workplace efficiency, risk remains high. Between overlooked footnotes and misread graphics, small mistakes can have expensive consequences.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo address this challenge, researchers from Georgia Tech and J.P. Morgan developed SlideAgent. The new framework helps large language models (LLMs) better understand complex visual documents like presentation slide decks, brochures, and reports.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESlideAgent works by breaking documents into multiple levels, allowing the model to analyze both the big picture and the fine details. This human-inspired approach leads to more accurate and reliable interpretation than existing systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond improving workplace tools, SlideAgent also points to a broader shift in AI. Instead of building only larger and more powerful models, the work shows how smarter design and more efficient reasoning can improve performance.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The new AI framework called SlideAgent helps large language models (LLMs) better understand complex visual documents used in the workplace like presentation slide decks, brochures, and reports. "}],"uid":"36319","created_gmt":"2026-08-12 12:01:25","changed_gmt":"2026-08-12 12:09:10","author":"Bryant Wine","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680843":{"id":"680843","type":"image","title":"SlideAgent-Head-Image.jpg","body":null,"created":"1786536102","gmt_created":"2026-08-12 12:01:42","changed":"1786536102","gmt_changed":"2026-08-12 12:01:42","alt":"Yiqiao (Ahren) Jin ACL 2026","file":{"fid":"265169","name":"SlideAgent-Head-Image.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/12\/SlideAgent-Head-Image.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/12\/SlideAgent-Head-Image.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":96345,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/12\/SlideAgent-Head-Image.jpg?itok=MXXpRJcQ"}},"680844":{"id":"680844","type":"image","title":"YJ_ACL2026.jpg","body":null,"created":"1786536492","gmt_created":"2026-08-12 12:08:12","changed":"1786536492","gmt_changed":"2026-08-12 12:08:12","alt":"Yiqiao (Ahren) Jin ACL 2026","file":{"fid":"265170","name":"YJ_ACL2026.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/12\/YJ_ACL2026.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/12\/YJ_ACL2026.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":48282,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/12\/YJ_ACL2026.jpg?itok=Vns4uEGI"}},"680845":{"id":"680845","type":"image","title":"YJ_ACL2026.jpeg","body":null,"created":"1786536520","gmt_created":"2026-08-12 12:08:40","changed":"1786536520","gmt_changed":"2026-08-12 12:08:40","alt":"Yiqiao (Ahren) Jin ACL 2026","file":{"fid":"265171","name":"YJ_ACL2026.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/12\/YJ_ACL2026.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/12\/YJ_ACL2026.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":219002,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/12\/YJ_ACL2026.jpeg?itok=inGoNwsP"}}},"media_ids":["680843","680844","680845"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50877","name":"School of Computational Science and Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"194609","name":"Industry"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"166983","name":"School of Computational Science and Engineering"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"},{"id":"181991","name":"Georgia Tech News Center"},{"id":"170447","name":"Institute for Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"176858","name":"machine learning center"},{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"},{"id":"14646","name":"human-computer interaction"},{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"},{"id":"194384","name":"Tech AI"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBryant Wine, Communications Officer\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:bryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691593":{"#nid":"691593","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Engineer Rethinks Supply Chains for Community Resilience ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E--Written by Anne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrom a single Atlanta church to a growing network across the Southeast, Georgia Tech engineer Sof\u00eda P\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n is connecting communities and researchers to support resilience in extreme weather events.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen a West Atlanta church received donated solar panels and battery storage to operate as a community resilience hub, P\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n led an academic-practitioner team that helped the congregation turn that hardware into an operational playbook. She is now using the same model to build a regional network that links community leaders and researchers on resilience, food access, and disaster response.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EP\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n, an assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a faculty fellow at the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS), focuses on addressing problems within the supply chain and transportation domains. \u201cThese challenges often encompass disruptions, human behavior, multiple stakeholders, and sustainability objectives,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBefore joining Georgia Tech in 2023, she was a postdoctoral research associate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute\u2019s Center for Infrastructure, Transportation, and the Environment. She also holds a courtesy appointment in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAll of the research that I do always starts with a problem that has some sort of important social impact,\u201d she said, \u201cand then I try to draw from my expertise in different fields to help solve that problem.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBuilding a Network, One Pilot at a Time\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough BBISS and its Sustainability Next grant program, P\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n co-leads a community resilience network of roughly 40 to 50 practitioners and researchers working on community-led resilience hubs across Georgia and South Carolina, with plans to expand across the Southeast.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNeither researchers nor practitioners alone can advance community resilience as they could if they work together,\u201d she said. \u201cThe purpose of the network is to facilitate and leverage partnerships.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunity Church Atlanta is one of the first pilots. The church\u2019s resilience hub, established in 2023, offers weekly support services and on-site solar and battery storage to keep power flowing during outages caused by storms, heat waves, or other disruptions. It is also the launching point for the Westside Resilience Corridor, a partnership of four churches along Cascade Road working to become resilience hubs for their neighborhoods.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with church leaders, emergency managers, and community representatives, P\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n and partners held a two-day workshop to map likely hazards, define critical services, and draft activation procedures. Among those partners was Beth Remmes, coastal outreach and climate resiliency coordinator for Georgia Interfaith Power \u0026amp; Light (GIPL), who helped design and facilitate the process. \u201cThe whole idea behind resilience hubs is creating social cohesion,\u201d Remmes said. \u201cSocial connectivity and relationships in the community are one of the biggest determinants of our ability not only to bounce back, but hopefully to bounce forward in a stronger way.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe noted that churches like Community Church Atlanta already serve as informal first responders. The resilience hub work makes that role more intentional by focusing on preparedness, programming, and connection well before an emergency. Just as important, in her view, was Tech\u2019s ability to see how lessons from Community Church Atlanta could inform future resilience hubs across the region.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EErica Holloman-Hill, founder and chief envisioning officer of Ayika Solutions Inc. and a member of Community Church Atlanta, sees that impact from inside the congregation. In the resilience hub effort, she provides technical guidance on the solar and battery system, helps shape programming such as workforce development, and helped bring partners like Groundswell and Georgia Tech to the table.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech uniquely brings the science and academia,\u201d Holloman-Hill said. \u201cBeing able to leverage an institution like Georgia Tech gives weight to some of the work that we\u2019re doing, while leaning on the technical expertise of professors like Sof\u00eda and partnering with organizations like GIPL to create models and support.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELooking ahead, Holloman-Hill said Community Church Atlanta is focused on refining how the hub operates and sharing lessons learned with other churches in the Westside Resilience Corridor. That means clarifying how the church will run the hub during emergencies, which partners need to be at the table, and how a third-party technical advisor can help keep the system performing as designed.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor P\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n, those kinds of relationships are the real outcome. \u201cThe relationship, the trust, the partnership \u2014 it\u2019s probably the most important outcome we\u2019ve seen,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJennifer Hirsch, senior director of BBISS\u2019s Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education (SCoRE) and the network co-lead, sees the same value at an institutional scale.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cUniversities are important members of their communities and can be key partners in sustainability and resilience efforts when they mobilize their research capabilities, students, and other resources to partner with and support local leadership and innovations,\u201d Hirsch said. \u201cNetworks of universities and communities can serve as multipliers of innovative approaches. With the resilience hubs network, we are excited to incubate new ideas that are community-centric and evidence-based and tailored to the Southeast communities that our partners know best.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere Resilience Meets Food Access\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis partnership model also shapes what P\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n calls her most immediately actionable project: a decision-support tool connecting local food producers, distributors, and access points in Atlanta. Her team has gathered survey and experimental data from residents in West End and citywide, testing how distance, travel time, price, and a store\u2019s ties to the community shape where people choose to shop. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to design tools for logistics and food distribution decisions that bring food closer to people,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA parallel thread runs through her disaster response work, where she studies how people choose among points of distribution for emergency relief. Proximity matters, she\u2019s found, but it isn\u2019t everything. Many people will travel farther if they believe they\u2019re more likely to receive supplies, or if it lets them move closer to family. In urban freight, she has applied the same lens to city logistics, studying behavior around emerging technologies such as sidewalk delivery robots and autonomous trucks.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAtlanta\u2019s mix of freight infrastructure, food access challenges, and weather vulnerability makes it fertile ground for that range of work,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAcross every project, the constant is not only patience but also resilience. Along the way, we realize that the original research idea may no longer make sense, or that different approaches are required. The process is very nonlinear and requires revision, reassessment, and a lot of pivoting,\u201d she said. \u201cIt basically requires tons of resilience!\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThrough BBISS, P\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n co-leads a community resilience network of roughly 40 to 50 practitioners and researchers working on community-led resilience hubs across Georgia and South Carolina.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Through BBISS, P\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n co-leads a community resilience network of roughly 40 to 50 practitioners and researchers working on community-led resilience hubs across Georgia and South Carolina."}],"uid":"34760","created_gmt":"2026-08-10 17:09:38","changed_gmt":"2026-08-12 11:23:32","author":"Laurie Haigh","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680827":{"id":"680827","type":"image","title":"Sof\u00eda P\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n","body":null,"created":"1786381614","gmt_created":"2026-08-10 17:06:54","changed":"1786381738","gmt_changed":"2026-08-10 17:08:58","alt":"Headshot of Sof\u00eda P\u00e9rez-Guzm\u00e1n","file":{"fid":"265150","name":"SPG2024.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/10\/SPG2024.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/10\/SPG2024.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1710516,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/10\/SPG2024.jpg?itok=DoLrUXFb"}}},"media_ids":["680827"],"groups":[{"id":"244191","name":"Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"660398","name":"Sustainability Hub"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"194611","name":"State Impact"},{"id":"194836","name":"Sustainability"}],"keywords":[{"id":"188360","name":"go-bbiss"},{"id":"194701","name":"go-resarchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"194566","name":"Sustainable Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMedia Contact: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brent.verrill@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EBrent Verrill\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EWriter: Anne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brent.verrill@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691623":{"#nid":"691623","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Discover New Mechanism Behind Soft-Material Adhesion","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EAnyone who has peeled off a bandage knows that speed matters. Conventional wisdom, and decades of adhesion research, suggest that pulling faster makes adhesive forces stronger. But researchers at Georgia Tech have discovered that soft materials can behave in a far more surprising way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstead of becoming steadily stickier as they are pulled apart, soft hydrogels first become less adhesive and then more adhesive as the pulling speed increases, revealing a previously unknown \u0022sweet spot\u0022 where detachment is easier. The discovery challenges a long-held assumption in adhesion mechanics and reveals a new physical mechanism that governs how soft materials attach and detach.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We expected the adhesion to increase continuously with pulling speed, as predicted by classical theories,\u0022 said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/hu-2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYuhang Hu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0022Instead, we found the exact opposite over a broad range of speeds. That told us there had to be a completely different physical process at work.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/news\/georgia-tech-researchers-discover-new-mechanism-behind-soft-material-adhesion\u0022\u003ERead the full story on the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering website.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAnyone who has peeled off a bandage knows that speed matters. Conventional wisdom, and decades of adhesion research, suggest that pulling faster makes adhesive forces stronger. But researchers at Georgia Tech have discovered that soft materials can behave in a far more surprising way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstead of becoming steadily stickier as they are pulled apart, soft hydrogels first become less adhesive and then more adhesive as the pulling speed increases, revealing a previously unknown \u0022sweet spot\u0022 where detachment is easier. The discovery challenges a long-held assumption in adhesion mechanics and reveals a new physical mechanism that governs how soft materials attach and detach.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We expected the adhesion to increase continuously with pulling speed, as predicted by classical theories,\u0022 said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/hu-2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYuhang Hu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0022Instead, we found the exact opposite over a broad range of speeds. That told us there had to be a completely different physical process at work.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers have uncovered a new mechanism governing how soft materials adhere, revealing that adhesion can weaken and then strengthen as pulling speed increases \u2014 a finding that could enable new approaches to biomedical devices, soft robotic"}],"uid":"36881","created_gmt":"2026-08-11 21:11:11","changed_gmt":"2026-08-11 21:28:30","author":"ttroha3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680841":{"id":"680841","type":"image","title":"Yuhang-Hu_Article_Picture1.png","body":null,"created":"1786482709","gmt_created":"2026-08-11 21:11:49","changed":"1786482709","gmt_changed":"2026-08-11 21:11:49","alt":"Three-panel figure showing soft-material adhesion experiments: a microscope image of a probe contacting a surface, fluorescence images of the contact area, and a graph showing pull-off force versus retraction speed, with stress relaxation and dynamic bond effects labeled.","file":{"fid":"265167","name":"Yuhang-Hu_Article_Picture1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/11\/Yuhang-Hu_Article_Picture1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/11\/Yuhang-Hu_Article_Picture1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":118400,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/11\/Yuhang-Hu_Article_Picture1.png?itok=2T-fAHFm"}}},"media_ids":["680841"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"108731","name":"School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"194701","name":"go-resarchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETracie Troha\u003Cbr\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691522":{"#nid":"691522","#data":{"type":"news","title":"As Water Systems Face Cyberattacks, Georgia Tech Research Points to Solutions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.wsbtv.com\/news\/local\/water-supply-under-attack-by-cybercriminals-metro-atlanta-system-may-have-been-targeted\/XA46MWYNZRAZ5EYUN3RSJZG5SM\/\u0022\u003ERecent\u003C\/a\u003E cyberattacks on municipal water systems across the United States have renewed concerns about the cybersecurity of the operational technology that supports critical infrastructure.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor researchers in Georgia Tech\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/capcpsec\/\u0022\u003ECyber-Physical Security\u003C\/a\u003E (CPSec) Lab, however, the vulnerabilities behind many of these incidents are far from new.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAssociate Professor \u003Cstrong\u003ESaman Zonouz\u003C\/strong\u003E leads the CPSec Lab and has studied programmable logic controllers (PLCs) for years. These devices automate critical infrastructure, including water treatment facilities, power grids, manufacturing plants, and transportation systems. The lab\u2019s work has revealed widespread internet exposure and software vulnerabilities that leave many industrial control systems vulnerable to cyberattacks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Out of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors defined by the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/topics\/critical-infrastructure-security-and-resilience\/critical-infrastructure-sectors\u0022\u003ECybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency\u003C\/a\u003E, four are considered lifelines,\u0022 Zonouz said. \u0022Of those four, communications, energy, transportation, and water, the water sector is the most vulnerable, which is why it is so often targeted.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPLCs serve as the brains of industrial operations, monitoring sensors and controlling equipment that keep essential services operational.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Imagine you have a thermostat that controls the temperature of your house. That is a type of controller,\u0022 Zonouz explained. \u0022The professional version does the same thing in industry.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen these controllers are directly accessible from the internet, attackers can exploit them to disrupt operations, manipulate industrial processes, or interfere with the systems that deliver essential services. Controllers may be intentionally exposed to allow operators to monitor equipment remotely. They can also be unintentionally accessible online because of configuration errors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, internet exposure is only part of the problem.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe CPSec Lab maintains a collection of PLCs that researchers reverse engineer to better understand their firmware, communication protocols, and security weaknesses. Their research has found that many controllers contain vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit once they gain access.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Not only can the attackers see the house they want to rob, but the doors are also left unlocked,\u0022 Zonouz said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2024, Zonouz and his collaborators presented \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1145\/3658644.3690195\u0022\u003EPLCHound\u003C\/a\u003E at the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS), introducing an automated system that identifies internet-connected PLCs hidden within massive internet-scale datasets collected by services such as Shodan and Censys. The work was led by Ph.D. student \u003Cstrong\u003ERyan Pickren\u003C\/strong\u003E. Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs \u003Cstrong\u003ERaheem Beyah\u003C\/strong\u003E, Assistant Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EFrank Li\u003C\/strong\u003E, and Research Scientist \u003Cstrong\u003EAnimesh Chhotaray\u003C\/strong\u003E are co-authors of the study.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERather than relying on traditional scanning techniques, PLCHound identifies subtle network signatures that reveal industrial devices that prior methods often missed. Using the system, the researchers conducted one of the largest studies of publicly reachable PLCs from major manufacturers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir findings showed that previous estimates undercounted the number of internet-accessible industrial controllers by as much as 37 times. Even more concerning, nearly 96% of the identified devices exposed protocols linked to recently disclosed critical vulnerabilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers did more than document the problem. After identifying exposed devices, the team launched a large-scale notification campaign, contacting more than 7,000 industrial operators to alert them that their systems appeared vulnerable. The effort enabled many organizations to investigate and address security issues before they could be exploited.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe recent attacks on municipal water systems reinforce concerns researchers have raised for years: many critical infrastructure operators continue to rely on operational technology designed primarily for reliability and performance rather than for cybersecurity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EImproving those defenses, Zonouz said, will require more than simply patching individual vulnerabilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers cite the energy sector as a model. Compared with other critical infrastructure sectors, electric utilities generally operate under more mature cybersecurity requirements and undergo routine compliance audits, providing organizations with greater visibility into the devices connected to their networks and the risks they pose.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EImplementing those improvements will not be easy. Many municipal water utilities operate with limited budgets and aging infrastructure, leaving little funding available for cybersecurity investments. As attacks on critical infrastructure become more frequent, the researchers argue that gaining visibility into operational technology assets and strengthening oversight are essential first steps to protect the systems communities rely on every day.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe CPSec Lab is a collaborative laboratory within the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/a\u003E as well as the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERecent cyberattacks on municipal water systems across the United States have renewed concerns about the cybersecurity of the operational technology that supports critical infrastructure.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor researchers in Georgia Tech\u0027s Cyber-Physical Security (CPSec) Lab, however, the vulnerabilities behind many of these incidents are far from new.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Recent cyberattacks on municipal water systems across the United States have renewed concerns about the cybersecurity of the operational technology that supports critical infrastructure. "}],"uid":"36253","created_gmt":"2026-08-06 16:59:42","changed_gmt":"2026-08-11 16:28:52","author":"John Popham","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673306":{"id":"673306","type":"image","title":"Saman Zonouz is a Georgia Tech associate professor and lead researcher for the DerGuard project. ","body":null,"created":"1709660104","gmt_created":"2024-03-05 17:35:04","changed":"1709660054","gmt_changed":"2024-03-05 17:34:14","alt":"Saman Zonouz is a Georgia Tech associate professor and lead researcher for the DerGuard project. ","file":{"fid":"256679","name":"Saman-Zonouz.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/05\/Saman-Zonouz.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/05\/Saman-Zonouz.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":56998,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/03\/05\/Saman-Zonouz.jpg?itok=qOSZDIrt"}}},"media_ids":["673306"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"},{"id":"1280","name":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Popham\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer II at the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jpopham3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691608":{"#nid":"691608","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AI Can Help Make Complex IPO Filings Easier to Analyze","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor investors trying to make sense of a company going public, one of the most important documents is often the most difficult to understand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInitial public offering (IPO) filings are dense disclosures submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. They can stretch hundreds of pages and combine legal language, financial data, and visuals like charts and infographics. Even experienced analysts struggle to read them end to end, leaving many everyday investors relying on headlines or summaries.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENew research from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/fintech.gatech.edu\/#\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s Financial Services Innovation Lab\u003C\/a\u003E reveals how artificial intelligence can make these critical documents more accessible and reveals where AI still has room for improvement.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIPO-Mine: A Toolkit and Dataset for Section-Structured Analysis of Long, Multimodal IPO Documents\u201d authors include Michael Galarnyk, Siddharth Lohani, Vidhyakshaya Kannan, Sagnik Nandi, Aman Patel, Liqin Ye, Arnav Hiray, Rutwik Routu, Prasun Banerjee, Siddhartha Somani, and Sudheer Chava.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMaking the Complex Understandable\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe authors developed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/2605.28714\u0022\u003EIPO-Mine\u003C\/a\u003E, an open-source toolkit and dataset designed to break IPO filings into manageable pieces. Instead of treating filings as a single document, IPO-Mine separates them into structured sections and extracts visuals like charts for analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIPO filings are important public documents, but they are very difficult to work with at scale,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/siddharthlohani\/\u0022\u003ESiddharth Lohani\u003C\/a\u003E, a Georgia Tech computer science major \u201926, software engineer at Bloomberg, and co-first author of the study. \u201cWe wanted to make these filings easier to analyze systematically.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy IPO Filings Matter\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIPO filings offer investors a detailed look at how a company operates before it goes public.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIPO filings give investors a clearer look at how a company makes money, what risks it faces, and how it positions itself before entering the public market,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/arnav-hiray\/\u0022\u003EArnav Hiray\u003C\/a\u003E, a Georgia Tech machine learning doctoral student in the Financial Services Innovation Lab, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/vip.gatech.edu\/teams\/entry\/1279\/\u0022\u003EAI for Financial Markets VIP instructor\u003C\/a\u003E, \u0026nbsp;and co-author. \u201cEven if everyday investors don\u2019t read the full filing, these documents can help them better understand a company\u2019s prospects.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor retail investors, that insight can help cut through marketing hype and offer a clearer sense of a company\u2019s underlying strengths and risks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAI\u2019s Strengths\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch shows that large language models and multimodal AI models can use their speed, scale, and pattern-recognition capabilities to offer significant advantages when analyzing IPO filings, including:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e80105b07d5b0d11faf071ba4a653dbdf\u0022\u003EProcessing massive documents: IPO filings can exceed hundreds of thousands of words, making manual review difficult. IPO-Mine structures the filings into sections and extracts visuals for analysis.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022ea54b334a7c419b3f02b3b99341559ff8\u0022\u003EStructuring unorganized data: IPO-Mine standardizes inconsistent sections across filings, making comparisons easier across companies and industries.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e081b77f8c34f03026ea81d13df00e0de\u0022\u003EAnalyzing text and visuals together: By extracting charts and images, AI can evaluate not just what companies say, but how they present information visually.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022eee168697d8050bf1cac161d049fa1ff2\u0022\u003EIdentifying trends at scale: Researchers can analyze patterns in disclosure practices across decades, industries, and thousands of companies.\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETogether, these capabilities could help democratize financial analysis, giving more investors access to insights that were once limited to professionals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Key Finding\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the study\u2019s most striking findings is that IPO filings are evolving in two different directions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat stood out was that the text and visuals appear to be moving in different directions,\u201d Lohani said. \u201cInvestors and researchers need to pay attention to both.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research shows that written sections are becoming more standardized, while visual elements such as charts and infographics are becoming more complex and varied.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs text becomes more standardized, more of a company\u2019s distinctive story shifts into its visuals,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/vidhyakshayakannan\/\u0022\u003EVidhyakshaya Kannan\u003C\/a\u003E, a Georgia Tech Financial Services Innovation Lab intern and co-author. \u201cBecause boilerplate language often looks the same across filings, charts and infographics are increasingly where companies differentiate themselves and make their case to investors.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor investors, that means understanding a company requires studying the visuals as carefully as the text; figures can\u2019t simply be skimmed or skipped over.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere AI Struggles\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDespite its promise, AI is not yet a perfect solution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e16599de6b5ed90a37957219cfb129f7a\u0022\u003EIPO filings are long: longer documents can reduce model performance, making it difficult for AI to maintain accuracy across an entire filing.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022eafdf1a735bfeac1eef2b40a946cd2d14\u0022\u003EIPO filings are visual: AI tools struggle to interpret visual data correctly.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e939c27f235f13b396533231783d65cd6\u0022\u003EIPO filings are multimodal: filings combine text, tables, and visuals in inconsistent formats. This makes them difficult for AI models to process reliably.\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur results show that even strong multimodal models can disagree with expert human judgments on financial charts, especially when they are misleading,\u201d Kannan said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Future of Financial Transparency\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAI can accelerate analysis and uncover patterns, but human judgment remains essential for interpreting the visuals companies increasingly use to tell their story. Even with these limitations, researchers believe tools like IPO-Mine could play an important role in shaping the future of financial transparency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIPO-Mine can help researchers, regulators, and investors analyze IPO disclosures more systematically, revealing patterns in how companies communicate risk, performance, and strategy before entering public markets,\u201d said Hiray.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy making complex financial disclosures more accessible and actionable, AI-powered tools have the potential to broaden access to critical market information and support more informed investment decisions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Qs17Ta40JEY\u0022\u003EWatch the researchers explain IPO-Mine and its impact\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/2605.28714\u0022\u003ERead More: IPO-Mine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/centers-and-initiatives\/center-for-finance-and-technology\/about.html\u0022\u003ELearn More: Center for Finance and Technology\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers developed IPO-Mine, an AI-powered toolkit that helps investors, researchers, and regulators analyze complex IPO filings more efficiently while highlighting the continued importance of human judgment when interpreting the visuals companies use to tell their story.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers developed IPO-Mine, an AI-powered toolkit that helps investors, researchers, and regulators analyze complex IPO filings more efficiently."}],"uid":"36730","created_gmt":"2026-08-11 15:55:12","changed_gmt":"2026-08-11 16:07:06","author":"klowe36","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680836":{"id":"680836","type":"image","title":"IPO-Mine Researchers","body":"\u003Cp\u003EArnav Hiray, machine learning doctoral student; Vidhyakshaya Kannan, a Georgia Tech Financial Services intern; and Siddharth Lohani, a computer science major \u201926 and software engineer at Bloomberg.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1786463495","gmt_created":"2026-08-11 15:51:35","changed":"1786463629","gmt_changed":"2026-08-11 15:53:49","alt":"Three photos of Georgia Tech researchers Arnav Hiray, machine learning doctoral student; Vidhyakshaya Kannan, a Georgia Tech Financial Services intern; and Siddharth Lohani, a computer science major \u201926 and software engineer at Bloomberg.","file":{"fid":"265160","name":"ipo-mine.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/11\/ipo-mine.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/11\/ipo-mine.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":210135,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/11\/ipo-mine.jpg?itok=Vx2WY_Je"}}},"media_ids":["680836"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/news\/2026\/ai-can-help-investors-decode-ipo-filings.html","title":"Read More"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"},{"id":"4175","name":"finance"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["kristin.lowe@scheller.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}