One of many stimulating sessions held at AI in Science and Engineering Workshop.
The Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) directorate hosted an AI in science and engineering workshop at Argonne National Laboratory on Sept. 5 and 6, 2019. The workshop included speakers from both the PSE and Computing, Environment, and Life Sciences directorates.
In her opening remarks, PSE Associate Laboratory Director Kawtar Hafidi set forth the goal of the workshop, “AI is a powerful tool. We want to begin the process of developing an overall AI strategy for PSE to guide the directorate contribution in Argonne’s future efforts.”
“In the future, the lab must incorporate AI as much as possible in accelerating science and remaining competitive,” noted workshop organizer Olle Heinonen, senior materials scientist in the Materials Science division.
Panel discussions provided overviews of the current status of AI in science and engineering, AI methods development, and current and near-future AI work at Argonne. The workshop also included eight breakout brainstorming sessions. These developed recommendations for short-term goals and suggestions for longer-term strategic goals, focused on identifying areas in which Argonne can claim world leadership, and addressed possible bottlenecks and required resources, means to better leverage expertise and resources, and strategies for building or encouraging synergy and collaborations within Argonne. The workshop agenda is available online.
“Artificial intelligence is obviously making big inroads in science and engineering,” said Heinonen. “Argonne must make sure it is ahead of the curve in applying AI to accelerate discovery and enable discoveries not possible without it.”
Image gallery from the workshop is available online.