Researchers are looking into ways to optimize efficiency across power grids and manufacturing. (photo courtesy of USC)

USC researchers will help lead the next phase of a national artificial intelligence institute developing tools to improve decision-making across power grids, manufacturing and global supply chains.

The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded $20 million to renew the USC Artificial Intelligence Institute for Advances in Optimization through 2031. Led by Georgia Tech in partnership with USC and the University of California, Berkeley, the institute combines expertise in AI and optimization – the science of finding the best course of action when time, resources and other factors are limited.

The researchers aim to develop intelligent systems that can navigate uncertainty, make complex decisions and respond quickly as conditions change. The systems could help utilities balance increasingly complex power grids, manufacturers adjust production and supply chain operators respond to shortages and disruptions.

“This renewal allows us to dig deeper into AI and optimization, moving basic science toward real-world applications that make a tangible difference in society,” said Bistra Dilkina, co-principal investigator of AI4OPT and the Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Early Career Chair in Computer Science and associate professor of computer science at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

Power grids, supply chains and other critical systems are becoming more complex and unpredictable, requiring decision makers to respond faster than traditional methods allow. AI4OPT researchers aim to meet that need by teaching machines to solve complex optimization problems more efficiently.

Over the next five years, the researchers will explore how AI and optimization can work together to achieve advances that neither field could deliver on its own ¬– and move those advances from foundational research into large-scale applications.

Georgia Tech Professor Pascal Van Hentenryck will continue to serve as the lead principal investigator, with USC’s Dilkina and UC Berkeley’s Alper Atamtürk serving as co-principal investigators.

“By fusing AI and optimization, AI4OPT is changing how we solve energy, supply chain and manufacturing challenges that are at the core of society,” said Van Hentenryck, A. Russell Chandler III Chair and professor at Georgia Tech.

USC will receive $5.6 million, more than twice its funding during the institute’s first phase, and expand its team from two researchers to five. The interdisciplinary team includes faculty across USC Viterbi, the USC Mark and Mary Stevens School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence and the USC Marshall School of Business.

“With an expanded team and increased support, USC is excited to collaborate with our partners to push boundaries and amplify our collective strengths,” said Dilkina, who also co-directs the USC Center for AI in Society.

AI4OPT’s education initiatives span K-12 programs, graduate education and faculty training. As part of the renewed institute, USC will bring the Seth Bonder summer camp in computational and data science for engineering to high schoolers in Los Angeles.

At USC, the institute helped catalyze the university’s leadership in AI and optimization education, including the launch of the first PhD specialization and certificate in AI plus optimization supported by a National Science Foundation Research Traineeship grant. The efforts are creating educational pathways for students at different stages to build skills in AI, optimization and real-world applications.

For information, visit viterbischool.usc.edu and ai4opt.org.