This time it’s not about nuclear research. It’s about artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Los Alamos National Laboratory and the university are partnering on two centers near Ypsilanti, one for classified activities and another for non-classified artificial intelligence computing and research, university officials announced Wednesday, Dec. 5.
The plan is to establish two computing centers on a 20-acre property at 10221 Textile Road in Ypsilanti Township, according to university officials. The facility will focus on research in science, energy and national security.
Los Alamos, which is best known for being behind the atomic bomb’s Manhattan Project and Trinity test site in New Mexico, is federally funded and part of the U.S. Department of Energy.
Relationships between the university and Los Alamos are not new. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who built the atomic bomb at Los Alamos, taught in the summers of 1931 and 1934 at the UM Symposium on Theoretical Physics, among other local connections.
Researchers from the university have worked with Los Alamos researchers for years. Now the relationship is formal.
Earlier this year, the university entered into a five-year $15-million research contract with the laboratory to develop advanced technologies, such as AI and sophisticated modeling techniques, and also “to address complex challenges like unlocking fusion’s potential as a clean-energy source,” officials said.
One center at the Ypsilanti Township facility will support Los Alamos scientists and engineers in conducting research and development focused on national security AI challenges, university officials said.
The other is for UM faculty, students and university partners in the state to collaborate with Los Alamos researchers on multidisciplinary research projects, along with joint workforce development and educational programs.
Money for the centers is expected to come from federal and state economic development funding.
“Our new partnership and growing collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory will sustain and strengthen U-M’s impact and excellence in research, innovation and discovery,” University of Michigan President Santa Ono said in a statement.
“In addition to offering incredible new opportunities for our students, staff and faculty, this effort will create high-quality jobs and invigorate the state of Michigan’s place in the growing AI ecosystem and flourishing information economy.”
A stronger partnership between the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Lab is beneficial to both institutions, Ono said.
“Los Alamos drives a wide range of vital national security programs that utilize high-performance computing, AI and other capabilities like advanced materials and manufacturing to provide leading-edge solutions to some of the world’s most challenging problems,” Thom Mason, Los Alamos National Laboratory director, said in a statement.
“This partnership with the University of Michigan will provide critical new resources to support our data-intensive work,” Mason said.
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