{"687813":{"#nid":"687813","#data":{"type":"news","title":"From Fusion to Self-Driving Cars, High Performance Computing and AI are Everywhere in 2026","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhile not as highlight-reel worthy as the Winter Olympics and the World Cup, experts expect high-performance computing (HPC) to have an even bigger impact on daily life in 2026.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers say HPC and artificial intelligence (AI) advances this year are poised to improve how people power their homes, design safer buildings, and travel through cities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/tangqi.github.io\/\u0022\u003EQi Tang\u003C\/a\u003E, scientists will take progressive steps toward cleaner, sustainable energy through nuclear fusion in 2026.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI am very hopeful about the role of advanced computing and AI in making fusion a clean energy source,\u201d said Tang, an assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE)\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFusion systems involve many interconnected processes happening across different scales. Modern simulations, combined with data-driven methods, allow us to bring these pieces together into a unified picture.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETang\u2019s research connects HPC and machine learning with fusion energy and plasma physics. This year, Tang is continuing work on large-scale nuclear fusion models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnly a few experimental fusion reactors exist worldwide compared to more than 400 nuclear fission reactors. Tang\u2019s work supports a broader effort to turn fusion from a promising idea into a practical energy source.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENuclear fusion occurs in plasma, the fourth state of matter, where gas is heated to millions of degrees. In this extreme state, electrons are stripped from atoms, creating a hot soup of fast-moving ions and free electrons. In plasma, hydrogen atoms overcome their natural electrical repulsion, collide, and fuse together. This releases energy that can power cities and homes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EComputers interpret extreme temperatures, densities, pressures, and plasma particle motion as massive datasets. Tang works to assimilate these data types from computer models and real-world experiments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo do this, he and other researchers rely on machine learning approaches to analyze data across models and experiments more quickly and to produce more accurate predictions. Over time, this will allow scientists to test and improve fusion reactor designs toward commercial use.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond energy and nuclear engineering,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pk.linkedin.com\/in\/umarkhayaz\u0022\u003EUmar Khayaz\u003C\/a\u003E sees broader impacts for HPC in 2026.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHPC is the need of the day in every field of engineering sciences, physics, biology, and economics,\u201d said Khayaz, a CSE Ph.D. student in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ce.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHPC is important enough to say that we need to employ resources to also solve social problems.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKhayaz studies dynamic fracture and phase-field modeling. These areas explore how materials break under sudden, rapid loads.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELike nuclear fusion, Khayaz says dynamic fracture problems are complex and data-intensive. In 2026, he expects to see more computing resources and computational capabilities devoted to understanding these problems and other emerging civil engineering challenges.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECSE Ph.D. student\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ahren09.github.io\/\u0022\u003EYiqiao (Ahren) Jin\u003C\/a\u003E sees a similar relationship between infrastructure and self-driving vehicles. He believes AI will innovate this area in 2026.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, Jin develops efficient multimodal AI systems. An autonomous vehicle is a multimodal system that uses camera video, laser sensors, language instructions, and other inputs to navigate city streets under changing scenarios like traffic and weather patterns.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJin says multimodal research will move beyond performance benchmarks this year. This shift will lead to computer systems that can reason despite uncertainty and explain their decisions. In result, engineers will redefine how they evaluate and deploy autonomous systems in safety-critical settings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMany foundational problems in perception, multimodal reasoning, and agent coordination are being actively addressed in 2026. These advances enable a transition from isolated autonomous systems to safer, coordinated autonomous vehicle fleets,\u201d Jin said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs these systems scale, they have the potential to fundamentally improve transportation safety and efficiency.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhile not as highlight-reel worthy as the Winter Olympics and the World Cup, experts expect high-performance computing (HPC) to have an even bigger impact on daily life in 2026.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers say HPC and artificial intelligence (AI) advances this year are poised to improve how people power their homes, design safer buildings, and travel through cities.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers say HPC and artificial intelligence (AI) advances this year are poised to improve how people power their homes, design safer buildings, and travel through cities."}],"uid":"36319","created_gmt":"2026-01-29 14:30:57","changed_gmt":"2026-02-19 15:53:29","author":"Bryant Wine","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-01-29T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2026-01-29T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"679125":{"id":"679125","type":"image","title":"CSE-in-2026_2.jpg","body":null,"created":"1769704332","gmt_created":"2026-01-29 16:32:12","changed":"1769704332","gmt_changed":"2026-01-29 16:32:12","alt":"CSE in 2026","file":{"fid":"263246","name":"CSE-in-2026_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/01\/29\/CSE-in-2026_2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/01\/29\/CSE-in-2026_2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":348721,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/01\/29\/CSE-in-2026_2.jpg?itok=JDq9Sr_p"}}},"media_ids":["679125"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/fusion-self-driving-cars-high-performance-computing-and-ai-are-everywhere-2026","title":"From Fusion to Self-Driving Cars, High Performance Computing and AI are Everywhere in 2026"}],"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":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"172288","name":"School of Computational Science Engineering"},{"id":"167864","name":"School of Civil and Environmental Engineering"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"},{"id":"181991","name":"Georgia Tech News Center"},{"id":"15030","name":"high-performance computing"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"},{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"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"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"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":""}}}