Leaders at the A. James Clark School of Engineering are framing artificial intelligence as a strategic national technology that must be developed with equal attention to capability, safety, infrastructure, and public trust. While much of society is focused on what artificial intelligence can achieve, Maryland engineers emphasize the underlying infrastructure required for artificial intelligence systems to reach their potential in a way that benefits people and the economy. Their approach spans quantum systems, biotechnologies, advanced materials, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure, all through the lens of responsible deployment and long term societal impact.
To advance this agenda, the university is co-hosting with AMD a National Academy of Engineering member led event that brings together leaders from industry, academia, and government to examine the infrastructure required for artificial intelligence. Participants are discussing advancements in semiconductor architectures and edge artificial intelligence systems, along with power, water, and other natural resource needs, as well as policy and regulation that shape domestic development. The Clark School positions this convening as part of a broader strategy organized around three core questions: how to design artificial intelligence that serves the public good and earns trust, how artificial intelligence will reshape engineering education, and how the academy should contribute alongside industry in a rapidly evolving field.
Education initiatives include a master’s of engineering in artificial intelligence that focuses on applying artificial intelligence methods to specific engineering domains, preparation of an undergraduate artificial intelligence minor, and new courses in industrial and physical artificial intelligence. The school pledges to maintain rigorous training in core science and engineering fundamentals while introducing artificial intelligence judiciously into learning, and it expands hands on opportunities through vertically integrated project teams, experiential learning, and entrepreneurship programs where students use artificial intelligence in design and innovation.
Across Maryland, faculty are using artificial intelligence to drive engineering breakthroughs tied to community needs. In Baltimore, artificial intelligence is applied to medical innovation, patient experience, and health outcomes. In College Park, artificial intelligence supports autonomous technologies for search and rescue, while in Crisfield those autonomous systems are being tested for delivering medicines to rural communities. Researchers such as Ichiro Takeuchi apply artificial intelligence to accelerate materials discovery, Jay Lee’s industrial artificial intelligence program helps semiconductor and automotive manufacturers optimize operations and improve reliability, performance, and sustainability, and Cinzia Cirillo studies how generative artificial intelligence can improve transportation systems. Additional work at the Center of Advanced Life Cycle Engineering and within microelectronics initiatives targets new device architectures, hardware security, packaging, heterogeneous integration, design tools, and thermal management to ensure artificial intelligence hardware can meet future demands.
Sustainability and infrastructure are central concerns as artificial intelligence drives demand for data centers and electricity. The future of artificial intelligence is described as depending on how the next generation of data centers is designed, built, and resourced, noting that the United States is not increasing power generation at a rate to meet artificial intelligence’s demands and that up to half of data centers expected to come online in 2026 could be delayed, according to a new study. Clark School researchers focus on high power, energy efficient data centers, including work by Damena Agonafer, who recently won an award for his idea to decrease the heat generated by data centers, and by Nii Attoh-Okine and Birthe Kjellerup, who are examining construction advances and the use of appropriate energy and water resources for sustainable data center design. The Maryland Energy Innovation Institute, led by Eric Wachsman, is tied to a national conversation on power generation that underpins these efforts.
To sustain leadership in artificial intelligence, the university is also investing in faculty. In February, the institution announced five leading experts as the first cohort of core faculty at the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland, the campus hub for artificial intelligence collaboration. One of these experts, bioengineer Yu Gan, exemplifies the role of engineers in artificial intelligence’s future, as Terp engineers are expected to provide the infrastructure required for people and organizations to develop and deploy artificial intelligence tools that move society forward.
