Impact

Our research does not stay in journals. We turn computational advances into tools, datasets, and discoveries that reach growers, engineers, materials scientists, and the public. Baskar Ganapathysubramanian directs the AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture (AIIRA) and is Associate Director of the Translational AI Center (TrAC), and has been invited into national conversations on AI for science, including engagements connected to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR).

Where the work makes a difference

Resilient agriculture. The group helped show that deep learning for crops can be made interpretable and trustworthy, work that helped launch AI-augmented plant science and now anchors the AIIRA institute. Group tools, models, and benchmarks bring insect, weed, and crop-stress identification from images to growers and researchers.

Water and clean energy. Computational modeling revealed that nanoscale structure improves water transport in desalination membranes, published in Science, and the group’s pipelines link the nanostructure of organic solar cells to their performance.

Materials by computation. Graph-based methods and fast virtual instruments turn hard-to-read microscopy and X-ray data into actionable design information, letting experimentalists ask sharper questions and get quantitative answers.

Simulation at scale. New high-performance methods solve complex-geometry flow, heat transfer, and time-dependent problems on leadership-class supercomputers, from soft-matter manufacturing to the airflow inside buildings.

Training the AI workforce. More than fifty PhD and MS graduates have gone on to national laboratories (NASA, Argonne, ORNL, PNNL), to industry (Bayer, John Deere, Corning, Micron, Intel), and to faculty positions worldwide. See the alumni wall.

Funding and support

Our research is made possible by the generous support of federal, state, institutional, and industry sponsors.