Florida State University’s Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) has secured an $88 million contract from the U.S. Navy to develop advanced modeling, simulation and testing capabilities for the next generation of shipboard power and energy systems through 2031.
“FSU’s Center for Advanced Power Systems is a national leader in highly specialized research and development that supports the U.S. Navy’s most advanced technology needs,” said FSU President Richard McCullough. “This major award reflects the Navy’s confidence in FSU’s expertise and underscores the important role our university plays in advancing power systems research with real-world impact.”
CAPS is led by Interim Director Sastry Pamidi, a professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. CAPS research faculty members Harsha Ravindra and James Langston are leading the new effort.
The contract, awarded by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), will support a broad research and development effort for the Navy.
Through the project, CAPS will develop digital models and architectures for advanced ship systems and evaluate next-generation electrical power and energy systems before they are implemented on physical vessels.
“Modern naval vessels are essentially moving microgrids, facing energy demands that were unimaginable a few decades ago,” Ravindra said. “This partnership with NAVSEA allows us to push the boundaries of what’s possible in modeling and simulation (M&S) as well as testing of advanced power system components in controller- and power- hardware-in-the-loop environment for shipboard electrical design, rapid prototyping and deployment on ships. The expertise provided by CAPS supports the Navy in design and risk reduction of ships that are faster, more resilient, and exponentially more energy efficient.”
The work is expected to be completed by June 9, 2031, with options that could provide the university an additional $11.5 million in funding for a cumulative $99.5 million award. CAPS also will collaborate with its extensive national network of partners on individual projects that support the broader research agenda.
“Collaborating with leading institutions and industry partners across the country requires a deeply integrated approach,” Langston said. “CAPS has the unique infrastructure, expertise and computational power to serve as the anchor for this nationwide research effort. It’s incredibly rewarding to lead a project that tackles real-world engineering challenges that directly impact national security.”
CAPS and the Navy have a long-standing history of collaboration.
Established in 2000 with support from the Office of Naval Research, CAPS has spent more than 25 years advancing power systems technology. During that time, the center has secured hundreds of millions in grants, trained more than 100 doctoral students who have gone on to careers in academia and industry and pioneered more than 60 patented technologies.
In 2016, CAPS became the first university test site accredited by the U.S. Navy to perform power hardware-in-the-loop simulation testing of megawatt-scale power equipment for surface combatants.
Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson said the award reflects the caliber of CAPS researchers and the center’s world-class capabilities.
“We are incredibly proud of Dr. Ravindra, Dr. Langston, Dr. Pamidi and the entire CAPS team for their leadership and hard work,” Patterson said. “Through this partnership with NAVSEA, FSU is helping shape the future of naval power systems, advancing national security innovation and demonstrating how our researchers translate groundbreaking ideas into real-world solutions.”
New frontier: FSU wins federal grants for AI, quantum research
Florida State University has landed the opportunity of leading four major federal projects within the U.S. Department of Energy's Genesis Mission to help the country build the world’s most powerful scientific platform.
And as the university has been on a roll of racking up federal-level awards lately, FSU President Richard McCullough explained how it all starts with the university's faculty. Understanding the federal government's top goals plays a role in the game plan, too.
"Our success in securing federal research funding begins with our faculty – pursuing bold ideas, submitting record numbers of grant proposals and tackling challenges that matter to Florida and the nation," McCullough said in a statement to the Democrat. "From health care and energy independence to national security, FSU has the talent, infrastructure and proven track record to compete for major federal investments.
"FSU has worked hard to understand the priorities of the federal government, particularly regarding the Genesis Awards," he added. "Our faculty have done an outstanding job of aligning our initiatives with these priorities and the nation’s broader national security goals. After five years of focused effort, our research strategy is beginning to deliver results, making us competitive with the nation’s leading research universities."
The contracts represent a milestone in the university's push to become a top-tier public research institution, with federal agencies increasingly turning to FSU to lead work in AI, quantum science, advanced energy and national security, all fields expected to drive future scientific and economic competitiveness.
Here are the four Genesis Mission projects being led by FSU researchers:
- AI-Powered Manufacturing of High Temperature Superconductors for Fusion Energy: A team of researchers is building an AI computer model that will help build a U.S.-owned supply chain of the technology for national energy security.
- Teaching AI to Fix Quantum Errors: Researchers will develop AI that acts as a real-time diagnostic system for quantum computers. The development will allow the team to rapidly interpret streams of indirect error signals.
- Accelerating Cosmic Discovery in Particle Physics: AI will be used to try to figure out why everything is made of matter instead of antimatter through a massive U.S. experiment called DUNE. The experiment will shoot invisible particles 800 miles through the Earth to compare observations using computer simulations.
- AI and Quantum Computing for the Next Generation of Nuclear Science: By combining AI with next-generation quantum-computing methods, researchers will try to better understand atomic nuclei and other quantum systems. The work could potentially contribute to progress in quantum technologies, clean energy and national security.
Florida State University secures Department of Energy Genesis Mission awards
Florida State University will lead four major projects as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s highly coveted Genesis Mission showcasing the university’s strengths in advanced technological innovation.
These landmark projects, led by FSU’s world-class faculty, utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning to tackle some of the nation’s most complex challenges, spanning high-temperature superconductors for fusion energy, quantum error correction, particle physics, and nuclear reaction modeling.
“These awards further affirm Florida State University’s emergence as a national leader at the frontiers of discovery, innovation and national service,” said FSU President Richard McCullough. “To secure four projects through the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission is a defining achievement for our institution and a powerful recognition of the caliber of our faculty. FSU is helping shape the scientific agenda for the nation’s future by advancing the artificial intelligence, quantum and energy frameworks that will strengthen our national infrastructure, accelerate American innovation and reinforce U.S. technological leadership.”
The Genesis Mission represents a major federal investment to unite DOE national labs, industry and academia to accelerate breakthroughs in energy dominance, physical sciences and national security. It has drawn comparisons to the Manhattan Project or Apollo mission. The Department of Energy awarded 278 awards across 26 identified science and technology challenges to accelerate U.S. innovation and scientific leadership during a summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 22.
FSU secured four awards and the FSU-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratoryis partnering on a fifth award led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Three of the FSU awards stem from the Department of Physics, and the other is from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
The awards are for an initial phase one that is nine months. However, researchers who received the awards are invited to show initial results of their work and apply for a second phase of funding that will likely be announced next year.
FSU Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson emphasized the strategic alignment of these projects with FSU’s mission to deliver solutions to critical global challenges.
“FSU has strategically positioned itself at the intersection of artificial intelligence and physical sciences to address some of the most critical vulnerabilities our country faces,” Patterson said. “From rebuilding a secure domestic supply chain for high-performance fusion magnets to paving the way for unbreakable, fault-tolerant quantum computers, these projects are highly practical solutions to real-world national security challenges. We are incredibly proud of our faculty for securing these historic awards, which will inspire next-generation breakthroughs and solidify FSU’s role as a trusted partner in federal scientific leadership.”
FSU researchers are leading the following Genesis projects:
AI-Powered Manufacturing of High Temperature Superconductors for Fusion Energy
Challenge Area: Reenvisioning Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Productivity
Led by Associate Professor Fumitake Kametani, this project uses AI to transform how high temperature superconducting tapes are made for fusion energy magnets. Manufacturing these highly engineered tapes involves subtle, hard-to-detect variations that limit performance uniformity and thus drive up costs of magnets, so the team is building an AI “digital twin”, which is a predictive computer model of the production line. This model learns how manufacturing conditions shape tape quality, helping rebuild a US-owned supply chain of this critically important technology for US energy security. FSU leads the project with the US manufacturer High Temperature Superconductors, Inc., and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Sanghyun Lee, associate professor of Mathematics, and National High Magnetic Field Laboratory researchers Aixia Xu, Yan Xin, Jeseok Bang, and Chris Segal, will also play key roles in executing the project, as well as MagLab Chief Materials Scientist David Larbalestier.
Teaching AI to Fix Quantum Errors
Challenge Area: Realizing Quantum Systems for Discovery
Led by Professor of Physics Nicholas Bonesteel, this project develops AI that acts as a real-time diagnostic system for quantum computers. Quantum computers are extraordinarily sensitive to noise, and keeping a quantum computation on track requires rapidly interpreting streams of indirect error signals. For today’s leading quantum codes, efficient classical algorithms handle this task — but they break down for the richer, more powerful codes expected to follow. The team is training neural networks to decode these signals for this next generation of quantum codes — essential groundwork for quantum computers that work at full scale. Co-Principal Investigators on this award include Assistant Professor of Physics Yanzhu Chen, Professor of Computer Science Xiuwen Liu, and FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Professor William Oates.
Accelerating Cosmic Discovery in Particle Physics
Challenge Area: Unifying Physics from Quarks to Cosmos
Led by Wyatt-Green Chair of Physics Mayly Sanchez and Robert O. Lawton Professor of Physics Harrison B. Prosper, this project uses AI to help scientists figure out one of the biggest mysteries in the universe: why everything around us is made of matter instead of antimatter. A massive U.S. experiment called DUNE will shoot invisible particles called neutrinos 800 miles through the Earth to find out, but physicists can only interpret what they see by comparing it against computer simulations that aren’t yet accurate enough. Today, improving those simulations is slow, hand-guided work that can take years. The FSU team is training an AI on millions of recorded neutrino collisions to find every place the simulation disagrees with reality at once, then compress what it learned into compact equations physicists can read. The team will transfer what the AI learns from one experiment directly to DUNE, opening the way to a system that unites the world’s neutrino data into a single shared model of how neutrinos interact with matter.
AI and Quantum Computing for the Next Generation of Nuclear Science
Challenge Area: Delivery of Fusion Energy
A multi-institutional team led by FSU will combine artificial intelligence with next-generation quantum-computing methods to improve understanding of atomic nuclei and other quantum systems. By combining AI-driven data analysis with advanced quantum-information methods, the researchers will address longstanding challenges in interpreting the vast amounts of experimental nuclear data collected over decades. Their work aims to produce predictive models that reveal how quantum systems interact, evolve, decay, and respond to external influences. Beyond advancing fundamental science, these developments could contribute to progress in quantum technologies, clean energy, and national security. The project brings together principal investigator Alexander Volya, Hitesh Changlani, and Yanzhu Chen of FSU; co-principal investigator Grigory Rogachev of Texas A&M University; Richard J. deBoer of the University of Notre Dame; collaborators at Quantinuum; and participating students and researchers across the institutions.
The Florida State University Research Foundation and NorthStrive Defense Tech have signed an exclusive patent license agreement covering new multi-domain drone technology that can transport payloads across air and water.
The technology enables an unmanned aerial drone to transport a cable-suspended payload through water while maintaining flight above the surface, leveraging buoyancy-assisted transport to potentially improve payload efficiency compared to traditional air-only drone systems.
Unmanned systems are increasingly being developed to operate across maritime, aerial and payload-delivery missions. The United States, United Kingdom and Australia are advancing underwater drone technologies through the AUKUS defense partnership, and the U.S. Navy is pursuing the development of unmanned surface vessels capable of carrying large payloads over long distances in support of manned warships. These developments underscore a broader defense market shift toward unmanned platforms that can operate with flexibility in a variety of missions and environments.
“Florida State University faculty produce game-changing research in areas of defense challenges, and this licensing agreement expands the reach of that work through development and translation through this new start-up,” said Valerie McDevitt, associate vice president of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation.
NorthStrive Defense Tech has obtained an exclusive, worldwide, sublicensable license within the aerospace and defense technologies field to make, have made, use, sell, have sold, sublicense, and import licensed products covered by U.S. Patent No. 12,291,334 and associated know-how. NorthStrive Defense Tech LLC, a startup formed for the licensing of FSU technology, is focused on identifying, acquiring, licensing, developing, and commercializing advanced defense technologies, with an emphasis on drone, autonomous systems, aerospace, and dual-use applications.
In connection with the license, NorthStrive Defense Tech entered into a sponsored research agreement with the FSU Research Foundation to fund and collaborate on additional research and development activities intended to advance the technology toward a working prototype and potential commercial-grade units. That sponsored research program remains ongoing.
No comments:
Post a Comment