COST Receives $399,999 Grant to Establish AI Research Center

The National Science Foundation has granted Savannah State University’s College of Science and Technology a $399,999 grant to establish an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center on campus that will focus on bringing environmental preservation and solutions to underserved communities in the region.

The two-year grant will enhance SSU’s research capacity to address important environmental issues using AI-powered innovations and machine learning (ML) technology. The AI Research Center will offer new opportunities to actively engage minority students and faculty members in cutting-edge AI research.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are powerful tools for tackling environmental challenges, and there are successful applications that show how these novel technologies can solve real-world problems.

The center will offer applied training to students to develop AI and ML skills and allow students to conduct AI research with a focus on environmental challenges, such as control of contaminants in water, soil, and air. During the initial research study, students and faculty will develop monitoring systems for tracking and controlling environmental contaminants using tiny machine learning models.

The NSF grant will further enhance the current AI and ML research infrastructure at SSU for future partnerships, as well as offer career and professional development activities for the students.

Leading the research are COST faculty members Drs. Majid Bagheri and Yin Liu, who serve as grant principal investigator and co-principal investigator respectively.

“Expanding AI in minority-serving institutions not only enhances the general research capacity across campus, but it is also the most efficient way to increase diversity in this field,” said Bagheri.