North Carolina State University has been awarded a four-year, $20 million award from the National Science Foundation to leverage advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous labs to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery in chemistry and materials science.
The research initiative, dubbed Self-driving Platforms for Expedited Experimental co-Design in solution phase chemistry and materials science (SPEED), is part of the NSF Directorate of Technology, Innovation and Partnership's Programmable Cloud Laboratories (PCL Test Bed) program. The SPEED laboratory will be based at NC State and includes two university collaborators.
"The emerging field of autonomous laboratories draws on a variety of disciplines, from computer science to chemistry to AI," said Chancellor Kevin Howell. "NC State has a tradition of bringing interdisciplinary innovation to bear on real-world challenges, and we're excited about leading the effort to address those challenges more quickly and efficiently."
"SPEED represents a new model for data-driven scientific discovery," said Jim Pfaendtner, executive vice chancellor and provost. "By combining AI, robotics and autonomous experimentation with advanced computational methods, the platform will dramatically accelerate the iterative process of designing, testing and optimizing new materials and systems. It expands opportunities for discovery while reinforcing NC State's leadership at the intersection of AI, engineering and the physical sciences."
"The SPEED Test Bed is designed to turn self-driving laboratories from specialized research platforms into shared discovery infrastructure," says Milad Abolhasani, principal investigator (PI) on the award and Dr. R.J. Polge Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State. "SPEED will allow researchers to compress the discovery of functional materials and molecules from years to weeks in areas such as advanced electronics, pharmaceuticals and agriculture."
The SPEED National Test Bed builds on NC State's leadership in "self-driving labs," an emerging research model that combines AI and robotic systems to design, conduct and analyze experiments.
"Rather than simply automating individual tasks, these systems connect experimental hardware, real-time data streams and decision-making algorithms so that each experiment informs the next," says Abolhasani. "SPEED will extend this capability beyond individual research groups by creating shared infrastructure that allows researchers to accelerate the discovery and validation of new materials and molecules across a broad range of scientific and technological challenges."
SPEED will initially focus on three closely related research areas: catalysts for more efficient chemical manufacturing; semiconductor materials for energy, sensing and electronics; and photocatalytic materials that combine elements of both. These areas were selected because they address important needs while posing the kind of complex problems self-driving laboratories are designed to solve.
"The SPEED Test Bed represents an important next step for self-driving labs," says Krista Walton, vice chancellor for research and innovation. "Thanks to Dr. Abolhasani's visionary leadership, NC State has been at the national forefront of this cutting-edge field from the start. His pioneering efforts to create connected, AI-powered robotic experimentation systems to accelerate discovery - including the Rainbow, PoLARIS and FastCAT labs - laid the groundwork that made NC State the clear choice to spearhead this important new initiative."
"For North Carolina, SPEED will create a new engine for translating autonomous science and engineering into economic growth, workforce development and industry engagement," says Abolhasani. "By giving researchers and partners access to advanced self-driving laboratory capabilities, the Test Bed will support innovation across key sectors of the state's economy, including biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals. SPEED will also help train a workforce prepared to design, operate and advance the next generation of data-driven discovery platforms. For the United States, SPEED will strengthen domestic capacity to discover and validate critical materials and molecules faster, supporting competitiveness in high-value manufacturing, resilient supply chains and emerging technologies."
Self-driving labs can change not only what we discover, but who gets to participate in discovery.
"Through remote access, researchers and students can engage directly with advanced experimental infrastructure from wherever they are, creating new opportunities for institutions and communities that have not historically had access to these capabilities," Abolhasani says.
Co-PIs on the award are Yaroslava Yingling, Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at NC State; Shih-Chun Lin, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State; Connor Coley, associate professor of chemical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science at MIT; and Alexander Miller, professor of chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill.
"MIT and UNC-Chapel Hill are important partners in SPEED," Abolhasani says. "MIT will be contributing its expertise in machine-learning and AI for use in chemistry research, and Chapel Hill will be contributing its expertise on catalysis research. We're excited about what we'll be able to accomplish through this new national PCL Test Bed."
