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Four Texas A&M projects are part of the Genesis Mission.<\/p>\n
Credit: U.S. Department of Energy<\/p>\n
Texas A&M University is pleased to announce it has joined the Genesis Mission<\/a>, a historic national initiative led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).<\/p>\n The Genesis Mission will build \u201cthe world\u2019s most powerful integrated science discovery platform. By uniting government, industry, academia and philanthropy, it is accelerating breakthroughs in energy, scientific discovery, and national security through a new platform that combines AI, supercomputing, quantum systems, and advanced scientific instruments,\u201d according to the DOE, which has identified an initial 26 national science and technology challenges<\/a> and selected 278 projects as part of the mission.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica has no shortage of bold ideas or talented scientists, and the response to the Genesis Mission proves that,\u201d said\u00a0U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. \u201cThe 278 projects selected today represent the very best of our nation\u2019s scientific enterprise. The remarkable number of high-quality proposals we received demonstrates\u00a0that America\u2019s innovation pipeline is strong, and it points to even greater opportunities for future investment and continued expansion of the Genesis Mission portfolio.\u201d<\/p>\n Rather than focusing on a single discipline, the initiative spans three major pillars: energy dominance, discovery science and national security. Its challenges include modernizing and scaling the electric grid; securing critical mineral supply chains; advancing nuclear fission and fusion technologies; accelerating advanced manufacturing; designing new materials; discovering new chemistry; improving quantum computing; understanding the universe; and strengthening nuclear security.<\/p>\n \u201cTexas A&M\u2019s role in the Genesis Mission underscores the caliber of our research enterprise and our dedication to solving some of the nation\u2019s most pressing challenges,\u201d\u00a0said Texas A&M President\u00a0Dr. Susan Ballabina<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cBy drawing on the interdisciplinary efforts and expertise of our researchers, we are pushing the boundaries of discovery and pioneering new technologies, together. We are honored to bring Texas A&M\u2019s world-class talent and resources to this effort as we collaborate at an even larger scale to help shape the future of science and innovation to serve our state, nation and world.\u201d<\/p>\n Underlying the mission objectives is the idea of connecting DOE\u2019s vast stores of scientific data, world-class research facilities, supercomputing resources and artificial intelligence systems into a unified discovery platform capable of dramatically accelerating research and development.<\/p>\n Dr. Angela Wilson<\/a>, A&M\u2019s vice president for research, says the initiative is revolutionary both in its scale and potential for scientific advancements.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Genesis Mission is built on the idea that scientific discovery can be accelerated through unprecedented access to data, computing power and expertise,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cBy bringing together researchers from academia, government and industry, this initiative creates new opportunities to tackle complex challenges in ways that would not have been possible just a few years ago. Texas A&M is proud to contribute to a national effort that seeks to transform how research is conducted,whether advancing\u00a0fundamental knowledge or\u00a0addressing real-world\u00a0challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n Selected Genesis Mission projects<\/p>\n Four projects from Texas A&M researchers have been selected for the mission:<\/p>\n Dr. Kung-Hui Chu<\/a> (Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station) Dr. Jonas Karthein<\/a> (College of Arts and Sciences) Dr. Yang Liu<\/a> (Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station) Dr. Nicholas Perez<\/a> (College of Arts and Sciences) Both Chu and Perez are taking on the mission challenge of using AI to secure critical resources for the nation. According to the DOE, the goal is to \u201creduce reliance on adversarial nations, expand America\u2019s mineral resource base, maximize production profitability, and strengthen supply chain resilience for technologies essential to national security and economic prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n What is the Genesis Mission?<\/p>\n U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiative to accelerate science through the use of artificial intelligence Chu\u2019s project aims to combine biological, water-system and geochemical information to create AI-enabled tools for biomining research. The project, in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory<\/a>, will integrate data about microorganisms, water movement and mineral chemistry to help scientists better locate and recover critical minerals.<\/p>\n \u201cCritical minerals are essential to modern technologies, but identifying and recovering them efficiently remains a significant challenge,\u201d said Chu, professor of civil and environmental engineering. \u201cBy bringing together microbial, hydrological and geochemical data in an AI-guided framework, we hope to uncover new insights into biological pathways for locating and recovering these resources while advancing more sustainable approaches to resource development.\u201d<\/p>\n Perez, associate professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, and his team are seeking new ways to understand how ancient geological processes shaped the distribution of critical minerals across the American West. Focusing on regions influenced by the Laramide mountain-building event that helped form today\u2019s Rocky Mountains and surrounding landscapes, the team will use AI to combine and analyze geological, geochemical, geophysical and satellite-based datasets. The goal is to uncover clues about how critical mineral deposits formed and where similar geological conditions may exist. The team is working in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe geological record preserves clues about how critical mineral deposits formed, but those clues are often scattered across many different types of data,\u201d Perez said. \u201cOur goal is to use AI to connect those pieces, learn from known rare earth element deposits and build a clearer picture of the geological conditions that led to their formation. That could help us better understand where similar conditions may exist across the region today.\u201d<\/p>\n The Texas A&M Cyclotron Institute is home to advanced research facilities that support scientific discovery.<\/p>\n Credit: Texas A&M University<\/p>\n Enhancing particle accelerators for discovery<\/p>\n Karthein<\/a>, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy and researcher in the Texas A&M Cyclotron Institute<\/a>, is working with collaborators including Argonne National Laboratory<\/a> to develop AI-powered \u201cdigital twins,\u201d that can help researchers run complex nuclear physics experiments more efficiently. The goal is to make better use of scarce and expensive beam time, allowing scientists to spend more time studying rare isotopes that can provide insight into how the elements were created in stars and stellar explosions.<\/p>\n \u201cArtificial intelligence has already transformed large scientific facilities that produce enormous amounts of data,\u201d Karthein said. \u201cBut these precision nuclear experiments are the opposite: they are \u2018data-scarce,\u2019 running only a few hundred experimental campaigns over an entire lifetime with a handful of datasets per campaign, not millions per day. Because standard, data-hungry AI simply doesn\u2019t work in this setting, this corner of science has been left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Simon North<\/a>, dean of the Texas A&M College of Arts and Sciences<\/a>, said Karthein and Perez are \u201coutstanding examples of the talent, innovation and intellectual leadership found across the College of Arts and Sciences. Their selection to participate in the Genesis Mission recognizes not only their individual achievements, but also the vital role that fundamental research and interdisciplinary collaboration play in addressing complex scientific challenges. We are excited to see their contributions help shape this ambitious national effort.\u201d<\/p>\n Advancing nuclear technologies<\/p>\n Liu, an assistant professor of nuclear engineering, is tackling energy dominance for the Genesis Mission. His project, in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory, will explore how AI can accelerate the engineering analysis and licensing work needed to bring advanced nuclear technologies into operation. The SHIELD system automates the modeling and simulation behind reactor safety analysis and assembles the supporting documentation that engineers and regulators rely on, while human experts review and approve every important step. The team will demonstrate the approach on two reactor types: a next-generation sodium-cooled design and the large light-water plants being deployed today.<\/p>\n \u201cBringing an advanced reactor from design to license today takes years of analysis and documentation, much of it assembled by hand,\u201d Liu said. \u201cWe are building AI tools that take on this routine work and produce results engineers and regulators can trust and verify, while human experts approve every important decision. If we succeed, we shorten the path from innovation to deployment without compromising safety.\u201d<\/p>\n A Texas A&M Genesis Mission project will explore AI-enabled tools for advanced nuclear systems.<\/p>\n Credit: Texas A&M University<\/p>\n Dr. Robert H. Bishop<\/a>, vice chancellor and dean of Texas A&M Engineering<\/a>, said the mission is a bold step into the future of science and innovation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Genesis Mission reflects a new era of scientific discovery, where advances in artificial intelligence, computing and engineering converge to address some of our nation\u2019s most pressing challenges,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are proud to contribute expertise in critical minerals, advanced nuclear systems and data-driven research alongside our national laboratory partners. These projects demonstrate how we are helping develop the technologies, tools and talent needed to strengthen America\u2019s energy future, economic competitiveness and national security.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaping the future of scientific discovery<\/p>\n The Genesis Mission brings together a vast array of expertise to face some of the nation\u2019s most complex scientific and technological challenges.<\/p>\n Texas A&M\u2019s participation reflects the university\u2019s commitment to large-scale research collaborations and places its researchers among those helping shape the future of scientific discovery. <\/p>\n
Project: AI-Guided Map for Biomining of Critical Minerals (AIM-BioCM): Integrating Microbial, Hydrological, and Geochemical Data<\/p>\n
Project: Scalable Agentic Digital Twins for Autonomous Precision Facilities<\/p>\n
Project: SHIELD: Secure Human-in-the-loop Intelligence for Engineering and Licensing Deployment of Advanced Nuclear Systems<\/p>\n
Project: Multimodal AI Finders for REE Deposits: Texas, the Colorado Mineral Belt, and the Southwest U.S.Securing critical mineral supply chains<\/p>\n
\nCombines AI, supercomputing, quantum systems and advanced scientific instruments
\nIncludes 278 projects taking on 26 national science and technology challenges
\nFocuses on energy dominance, discovery science and national security
\nBrings together government, industry, academia and philanthropy
\nAims to create a unified discovery platform linking scientific data, AI and supercomputing resources<\/p>\n![\"two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cyclotron-26-1408x934.jpg\")
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