Three projects led by Penn State scientists are among those selected for funding under Phase I of the Genesis Mission, a historic national initiative led by the U.S. Department of Energy to build an integrated science discovery platform. In addition, Penn State is a partner on the Prometheus project, led by Idaho National Laboratory, which is the first Genesis Mission Phase II award recipient.
The initiative, a collaboration between government, industry, academia and philanthropy, was created by the federal government with the goal of supporting breakthroughs in energy, scientific discovery, and national security through a new platform that combines artificial intelligence (AI), supercomputing, quantum systems and advanced scientific instruments.
"This investment highlights the essential role that scientific research plays in strengthening America's competitiveness, security and economic future," said Andrew Read, senior vice president for research at Penn State. "As a land-grant university, Penn State has a responsibility to advance discoveries that address national priorities. The Genesis Mission recognizes that breakthroughs increasingly happen at the intersection of scientific expertise, advanced computing and artificial intelligence. We're proud to contribute our research strengths, facilities and partnerships to help accelerate discovery and deliver solutions that will benefit society."
The projects that were selected for Department of Energy funding as part of the initiative were announced at a summit on July 22 in Washington, D.C. The three projects led by scientists at Penn State and selected for Phase I funding are:
"Transient Kinetics and Spectroscopy for Agentic Digital Twins to Upgrade Domestic Alkane Feedstocks into Value-Added Chemicals"
Led by Michael Janik, distinguished professor of chemical engineering
This project aims to make it much faster and easier to turn abundant U.S. natural gas ingredients, such as propane, into valuable chemicals used in manufacturing. The research team will combine advanced experiments with AI-powered virtual models of chemical reactors called "digital twins" that can learn from real-world data, predict how catalysts - substances or processes that initiate or accelerate chemical reactions - will perform, and recommend better operating conditions. By reducing the time and cost needed to test new catalysts and manufacturing processes, the project could help accelerate chemical innovation, improve efficiency and strengthen domestic chemical production, Janik said.
"Our team is excited to participate in the Genesis initiative," he said. "Funding for this project will allow us to greatly accelerate core activities in heterogeneous catalysis research. Catalysts are essential for fuel and chemical production, and integrating transient experimental techniques and physics-informed AI methods will greatly accelerate catalytic material discovery and reaction process development."
"AI-Orchestrated Multimodal Platforms for Accelerated Discovery, Scale-Up, and Deployment of 2D Materials"
Led by Stephanie Law, associate professor of materials science and engineering
Researchers at Penn State and partner national laboratories will work to develop an AI-powered system to make it much faster and easier to create advanced two-dimensional (2D) materials used in future electronics and quantum technologies. Today, finding the right manufacturing conditions for these materials often takes months of trial and error and can be difficult to reproduce. The project will combine artificial intelligence, real-time sensor data, computer simulations and a large database of past experiments to automatically predict, optimize and adjust the production process. The goal is to cut development time from months to less than a week while making material manufacturing more reliable, scalable and ready for industry use.
"The Genesis Mission funding will transform and democratize thin film synthesis for microelectronics and quantum applications," Law said. "Until now, making a new material or structure required expert knowledge and slow trial-and-error iterations. Our Genesis project will use AI to speed up the process of finding stable growth recipes, transfer recipes among instruments and materials, and make growth more reproductive using in situ sensors. Ultimately, my long-term vision is to create an AI-enabled system that will let us quickly and reproducibly design and grow materials and structures that we can't even imagine now."
"Neurosymbolic Intelligence for Next Generation Smart Manufacturing"
Led by Soundar Kumara, Allen E. Pearce and Allen M. Pearce Professor of Industrial Engineering
The project aims to help U.S. manufacturers - especially small and mid-sized companies - use advanced AI to improve efficiency, quality and decision-making. The researchers plan to develop a new "neurosymbolic" AI system that combines data-driven learning with human-like reasoning, along with digital twins as virtual models of factories and AI assistants that can explain their recommendations. The goal is to create smarter, more trustworthy manufacturing systems that can detect problems, optimize operations, reduce costs and energy use, and help people make better decisions in real time.
"I am humbled and honored to be in the first cohort of awardees in the Genesis Mission," Kumara said. "I am overwhelmed with the gravity of this selection. My dedicated work and my vision for the future of manufacturing intelligence have become a part of the AI for Science and Engineering mission of our nation. I can't be prouder of this collaboration, of the meaningful work of high impact that we do and the immense responsibility to accomplish our task."
The DOE has stated that the goal of the Phase I awards is to identify promising pathways toward transformative scientific capabilities and establish a foundation for future investment and scale. Project teams will design and demonstrate research workflows that integrate AI with scientific investigation, while rigorously evaluating whether those approaches can accelerate discovery, improve predictive capabilities, enhance experimentation or generate new scientific insights.
Phase II Prometheus project
The Phase II Prometheus project will leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to design, license, manufacture, construct and operate nuclear reactors with human-in-the-loop workflows; integrate AI into nuclear fuel fabrication; and use AI for nuclear legacy document management. By applying human-supervised AI across reactor design, licensing, manufacturing, construction and operations, Prometheus aims to move commercial-scale nuclear reactors from concept to deployment in years rather than decades, delivering nuclear energy faster, safer and more affordably.
Within this broader effort, Penn State research will contribute to the critical transition from reactor design to physical delivery. The Penn State team, consisting of Yuqing Hu, associate professor of architectural engineering; Elia Merzari, professor of nuclear engineering; and Stefano Terlizzi, the John and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Early Career Professor, will develop AI-powered tools that help plan, design, build and manage manufacturing and construction projects. The goal will be to develop tools that can organize engineering data, assist people with automated tasks while keeping humans in control, and create a connected digital record that tracks a project from initial requirements and design all the way through construction, testing, operation and maintenance.
"We are excited to work with Idaho National Laboratory and the broader Prometheus team on this ambitious effort," Hu said. "Advanced reactor deployment requires more than innovative designs. It requires a reliable way to carry engineering intent through manufacturing, construction, verification and eventual operation. Our goal is to use AI and graph-based digital engineering to connect information that is often fragmented across models, schedules, work packages and verification records. By making these relationships more traceable and actionable, this approach is designed to enable earlier problem detection, reduce rework, strengthen verification and accelerate the safe delivery of advanced nuclear energy systems."
The project will also advance research and workforce development at the intersection of AI, digital engineering, construction informatics and nuclear engineering, while supporting graduate-student training and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
"America has no shortage of bold ideas or talented scientists, and the response to the Genesis Mission proves that," U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a press release. "The 278 projects selected today represent the very best of our nation's scientific enterprise. The remarkable number of high-quality proposals we received demonstrates that America's innovation pipeline is strong, and it points to even greater opportunities for future investment and continued expansion of the Genesis Mission portfolio."
