Carnegie Mellon University researchers will contribute to two new projects selected in Phase II of the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission, according to an announcement on October 8, 2026. The initiative connects AI, supercomputing, quantum systems, and advanced scientific instruments to accelerate breakthroughs in energy and scientific discovery.
Phase II Genesis Mission Awards
Carnegie Mellon University researchers are expanding their involvement in the Department of Energy's (DOE) Genesis Mission by contributing to two newly selected Phase II projects. The Genesis Mission brings together government, industry, academia, and philanthropy to accelerate research breakthroughs.
These projects extend Carnegie Mellon's contributions to a national effort aimed at making scientific research faster and more effective. More than a dozen CMU scholars and researchers are already involved in the Genesis initiative.
Particle Physics and Fusion Energy Research
Colin Morningstar, a physics professor in the Mellon College of Science, will develop AI tools to improve complex calculations used to understand fundamental particles and forces. He is serving as co-principal investigator on the MIT-led project titled 'Lattice QCD at the Intelligence Frontier.'
Meanwhile, Jeff Schneider, a research professor in the Robotics Institute at the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science, will collaborate on a project led by Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). The team will develop and use an AI-enabled digital twin of SPARC, the company's fusion demonstration machine, to create tokamak control policies.
Key facts and where they come from
- CMU's Colin Morningstar will develop AI tools to improve calculations for understanding fundamental particles and forces.
CMU's Colin Morningstar will develop AI tools to improve the complex calculations scientists use to understand the fundamental particles and forces that govern matter.
- Jeff Schneider will collaborate on a Genesis project led by Commonwealth Fusion Systems to build an AI-enabled digital twin.
Jeff Schneider, a research professor in the Robotics Institute at the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science, will collaborate on a Genesis project led by Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS).