The future of computing is lit, literally. 

As microchips grow more complex and data demands intensify, traditional electrical connections are hitting their limits. Speed is king in today’s digital systems, but a major bottleneck remains in how quickly information can move between components like processors and memory. 

This lag is one of the most pressing challenges in advanced hardware design. While processors continue to accelerate, the links that connect them can't keep pace. 

Georgia Tech researcher Ali Adibi is addressing this problem with $5.3 million in funding over three years from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). His project is part of DARPA’s Heterogeneous Adaptively Produced Photonic Interfaces (HAPPI) program, which aims to dramatically boost the speed and density of data transmission within microsystems by using light instead of electricity. 

“Optical solutions are highly advantageous for providing the required data rates and power consumptions, and our project is formed to address the most important challenges for achieving the system-level performance,” said Adibi, a professor and Joseph M. Pettit Chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. 

The project brings together a multidisciplinary team, including collaborators from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Florida, NY CREATES, and NHanced Semiconductors, Inc.

Going Vertical 

Unlike traditional optical communication, which connects systems across distances, this project focuses on enabling ultra-fast, low-loss communication withinelectronic systems. 

The key innovation is vertically connecting electronic chips in a compact stack. This design helps overcome the limitations of planar optical routing geometries (layouts that guide light horizontally across a chip) which are often not compatible with the dense, 3D chip architectures needed for next-generation computing. 

Adibi’s team is developing a novel 3D optical routing system that can transmit data with minimal loss, high bandwidth, and compact components. The system is designed to scale to large arrays of interconnected chips with minimal interference between data channels.

Smarter Design with Machine Learning 

At the heart of the project is the use of machine learning (ML) to help design and optimize the light-based communication system.  

ML is used to shape and fine-tune the tiny structures that guide light through and between chips. This includes finding the best sizes, shapes, and layouts for components like couplers and waveguides, so they can be made smaller, work more efficiently, and fit into dense chip layouts.  

“Designing a complete, scalable 3D optical routing structure involves innumerable variables,” Adibi said. “Machine learning helps us navigate that complexity and find solutions that would be nearly impossible to identify manually.” 

Tiny "Mirrors"

Another key innovation involves specialized optical structures, or what Adibi refers to as “artificial mirrors”.

The tiny, precisely shaped structures, called metagratings, are embedded in the chip material to redirect light vertically between layers with minimal loss. These components are designed to guide light efficiently in tight spaces, helping connect stacked chips without losing signal strength. 

“Imagine light traveling through a chip and suddenly being redirected straight up. That’s the kind of precise control we’re achieving,” Adibi explained. 

These innovations, along with advanced techniques for building vertical light paths through thick silicon layers and new packaging solutions that keep components precisely aligned, have shown promise on their own. But combining them is what enables dense, high-speed, low-loss communication between vertically stacked chips, something that no system has achieved before, according to Adibi. 

“As with any complex system, success depends on how well everything is structured and optimized,” he said. “Once everything is in alignment, data can move faster, more efficiently, and with less energy consumption for communicating each bit of data.”

About the Research
This research is supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Heterogeneous Adaptively Produced Photonic Interfaces (HAPPI) program. Notice ID DARPA-SN-24-105.

The College of Sciences is pleased to announce Jenny McGuire as the recipient of the Harry and Anna Teasley Professorship in Ecology.

The newly endowed faculty position supports research and teaching that meaningfully advances the understanding and responsible stewardship of species and community dynamics amid evolving ecological interactions driven by global environmental change. 

McGuire, an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, was selected for her pioneering ecological research and exceptional teaching efforts.

“Jenny’s creative and fundamental research in spatial and community ecology is helping to position Georgia Tech as a leader in biodiversity and ecosystem conservation,” says Todd Streelman, professor and chair of the School of Biological Sciences. “Her appointment continues a trend in the School to award research endowments to our most promising early- and mid-career scientists and highlights the strong support and generosity of alumni such as the Teasley family.”

Meet Jenny McGuire

McGuire joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 2017 as an assistant professor. She earned a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed postdoctoral research at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center and the University of Washington.

Her research explores how plants and animals respond to environmental changes across space and time — from the ancient past to modern urban environments to the future. She leads the Spatial Ecology and Paleontology Lab, which integrates paleontological data, ecological modeling, and fieldwork to understand how biodiversity shifts in response to climate change and human development.

“Our goal isn’t just to preserve biodiversity, but also to help it thrive in a changing landscape,” says McGuire.

She plans to use the Teasley endowment to advance wildlife redistribution research in the Southeastern U.S.

“Georgia is a climate change highway,” explains McGuire. “Species are moving northeast toward the Appalachian Mountains, but roads, development, and fragmented habitats often block their paths.”

McGuire believes Georgia Tech is uniquely positioned to lead in this field, thanks to its technological strengths. She and her team will collaborate across campus and the Southeast, implementing cutting-edge biodiversity monitoring to better understand how species experience and respond to environmental changes.

“Conducting this research in urban areas like Atlanta — where green infrastructure can serve as vital wildlife corridors — is especially important,” adds McGuire.

The Teasley Professorship will also support student involvement at all levels. McGuire hopes to build a more connected and proactive research community that brings together students, ecologists, biologists, engineers, computer scientists, and community partners to address biodiversity challenges across the Southeast.

McGuire is a 2024 Cullen-Peck Fellow, a Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems Faculty Fellow since 2023, and an NSF CAREER Award winner. Her long-running outreach program, Fossil Fridays, invites students, families, and community members into the lab to sort and study real fossil specimens.

Looking ahead, she’s eager to explore the possibilities provided by the Teasley Professorship.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to elevate Georgia Tech’s role in shaping how we understand and protect life on a changing planet.”

A legacy of excellence

Harry E. Teasley, Jr. graduated from Georgia Tech in 1959 with a degree in industrial engineering and worked for over 33 years for The Coca-Cola Company. In addition to the many leadership roles he held at Coca-Cola, Mr. Teasley is remembered for pioneering the first Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to be used in an industrial context. LCA was a pioneering analytical framework assessing environmental impacts of a product's life from "cradle to grave," and it is used across most major industries today. 

The Harry and Anna Teasley Professorship in Ecology is the second Teasley Professorship supporting environmental research at Georgia Tech. School of Biological Sciences Regents’ Professor Mark Hay has held the Harry and Anna Teasley Chair in Environmental Biology since 1999.

Mrs. Teasley provided an official statement regarding the Harry and Anna Teasley Professorships at Georgia Tech:

“It was the intent of my late husband Harry E. Teasley Jr. that the funds he gave to Professor Mark Hay at Georgia Tech would be to support excellence in the field of environmental biology and to provide him with the freedom to study any concept, hypothesis, or organism that his experience-honed intuition guided him to.  

With time, Professor Hay has proven to have been a very worthy choice and has made my late husband and I very proud through the breadth and depth of his studies, discoveries, and highest possible awards he has received. Once this was established, and along with the profound esteem both men had developed for each other, there was the wish to leave a legacy beyond the research: the human values and scientific approach to research that Professor Hay has demonstrated from the start.  

Having been the unanimous choice of the evaluating committee, Associate Professor Jenny McGuire seems to be an excellent first recipient, and I am very proud to welcome her as I know my late husband would have been as well. 

I wish her many successes in pursuing and teaching her very promising research, and I look forward to learning about the impact she will have in her field as we have through the years admired Professor Mark Hay’s achievements.

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To learn more about Transforming Tomorrow: The Campaign for Georgia Tech, visit transformingtomorrow.gatech.edu. 

As strange as it sounds, the key to understanding life’s origins might lie in artificial intelligence. At least, according to a new approached being pursued by researchers at Georgia Tech. 

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Assistant Professor Amirali Aghazadeh and Ph.D. student Daniel Saeedi have developed AstroAgents, an AI system that analyzes mass spectrometry data — detailed chemical compositions from meteorites and Earth soil samples — to generate novel hypotheses about the origins of life on the planet. 

What sets AstroAgents apart is its use of agentic AI. Unlike traditional AI systems that perform fixed tasks, this agentic system is designed to pursue a scientific goal. It draws from astrobiology literature, interprets complex data, and proposes original ideas that researchers can investigate further. 

Their paper, recently featured in the journal "Nature", is opening new possibilities for how scientists explore questions that have remained unanswered for decades. 

In a special Q&A, Aghazadeh and Saeedi explain how AstroAgents analyzes space chemistry, what it’s revealing about the possible origins of life on Earth, and what they hope to explore next.

READ THE Q&A

The Partnership for Inclusive Innovation launched the sixth annual PIN Summer Intern (PSI) program in May with an event at Fort Valley State University’s location in Warner Robins, Georgia. The program is shaping up to be the biggest yet.

This summer, 103 students are working on 51 projects across 27 communities in Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, and Texas. Selected from nearly 700 applicants — a 73% increase over last year — these students are tackling real-world challenges ranging from AI applications in North Georgia to Native American initiatives in Whigham, Georgia, and Bracketville, Texas.

By pairing students from different years, majors and institutions, the PSI program gives the next generation of innovators hands-on experience addressing complex challenges while delivering practical solutions to communities across the region.

A collaboration with the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC) has funded 17 projects in several counties in Middle and South Georgia and is a large part of the program’s expansion this year. The opportunity to make an impact across a broad swath of Georgia is part of why the SCRC was interested in working with PIN, said SCRC Executive Director Christopher McKinney.

Read Full Story on EI2 Newspage

Fan Zhang, assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, has received the 2025 Landis Young Member Engineering Achievement Award from the American Nuclear Society (ANS).

The award recognizes young members for outstanding achievements in which engineering knowledge is effectively applied to yield an engineering concept, design, safety improvement, method of analysis, or product utilized in nuclear power research and development or commercial application.

Zhang was selected by the ANS Honors and Awards Committee for her pioneering contributions to nuclear cybersecurity through innovative machine learning (ML) approaches, development of patent-pending technology, and efforts to establish Georgia Tech as a leader in the field. The award also recognizes her collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency and her groundbreaking research on robot-assisted nuclear power plant monitoring, which improves safety and efficiency and demonstrates exceptional impact on global nuclear security.

Zhang serves as the director of the Intelligence for Advanced Nuclear (iFAN) Lab at Georgia Tech. Her research primarily focuses on nuclear cybersecurity, online monitoring, fault detection, digital twins, AI/ML, and robotics. Her work on robot-assisted nuclear power plant monitoring, which combines these cross-cutting areas, could significantly reduce human worker presence in harsh and potentially hazardous environments and improve the efficiency of plant operation. The work was supported by the inaugural Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Distinguished Early Career Award.

Read Full Story on the ME Newspage

Georgia Tech has launched two new Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRIs): The Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society (INNS) and the Space Research Institute (SRI). 

The new institutes focus on expanding breakthroughs in neuroscience and space, two areas where research and federal funding are anticipated to remain strong. Both fields are poised to influence research in everything from healthcare and ethics to exploration and innovation. This expansion of Georgia Tech’s research enterprise represents the Institute’s commitment to research that will shape the future.

“At Georgia Tech, innovation flourishes where disciplines converge. With the launch of the Space Research Institute and the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society, we’re uniting experts across fields to take on some of humanity’s most profound questions. Even as we are tightening our belts in anticipation of potential federal R&D budget actions, we also are investing in areas where non-federal funding sources will grow and where big impacts are possible,” said Executive Vice President for Research Tim Lieuwen. "These institutes are about advancing knowledge — and using it to improve lives, inspire future generations, and help shape a better future for us all.”

Both INNS and SRI grew out of faculty-led initiatives shaped by a strategic planning process and campus-wide collaboration. Their evolution into formal institutes underscores the strength and momentum of Georgia Tech’s interdisciplinary research enterprise. 

Georgia Tech’s 11 IRIs support collaboration between researchers and students across the Institute’s seven colleges, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), national laboratories, and corporate entities to tackle critical topics of strategic significance for the Institute as well as for local, state, national, and international communities.

"IRIs bring together Georgia Tech researchers making them more competitive and successful in solving research challenges, especially across disciplinary boundaries,” said Julia Kubanek, vice president of interdisciplinary research. “We're making these new investments in neuro- and space-related fields to publicly showcase impactful discoveries and developments led by Georgia Tech faculty, attract new partners and collaborators, and pursue alternative funding strategies at a time of federal funding uncertainty."

The Space Research Institute

The Space Research Institute will connect faculty, students, and staff who share a passion for space exploration and discovery. They will investigate a wide variety of space-related topics, exploring how space influences and intersects with the human experience. The SRI fosters a collaborative community including scientific, engineering, cultural, and commercial research that pursues broadly integrated, innovative projects.

 

SRI is the hub for all things space-related at Georgia Tech. It connects the Institute’s schools, colleges, research institutes, and labs to lead conversations about space in the state of Georgia and the world. Working in partnership with academics, business partners, philanthropists, students, and governments, Georgia Tech is committed to staying at the forefront of space-related innovation.   

 

The SRI will build upon the collaborative work of the Space Research Initiative, the first step in formalizing Georgia Tech’s broad interdisciplinary space research community. The Initiative brought together researchers from across campus and was guided by input from Georgia Tech stakeholders and external partners. It was led by an executive committee including Glenn Lightsey, John W. Young Chair Professor in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering; Mariel Borowitz, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs; and Jennifer Glass, associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Beginning July 1, W. Jud Ready, a principal research engineer in GTRI’s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory, will serve as the inaugural executive director of the Space Research Institute.

To receive the latest updates on space research and innovation at Georgia Tech, join the SRI mailing list. 

The Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society

The Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society (INNS) is dedicated to advancing neuroscience and neurotechnology to improve society through discovery, innovation, and engagement. INNS brings together researchers from neuroscience, engineering, computing, ethics, public policy, and the humanities to explore the brain and nervous system while addressing the societal and ethical dimensions of neuro-related research.

INNS builds on a foundation established over a decade ago, which first led to the GT-Neuro Initiative and later evolved into the Neuro Next Initiative. Over the past two years, this effort has culminated in the development of a comprehensive plan for an IRI, guided by an executive committee composed of faculty and staff from across Georgia Tech. The committee included Simon Sponberg, Dunn Family Associate Professor in the School of Physics and the School of Biological Sciences; Christopher Rozell, Julian T. Hightower Chaired Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Jennifer Singh, associate professor in the School of History and Sociology; and Sarah Peterson, Neuro Next Initiative program manager. Their leadership shaped the vision for a research community both scientifically ambitious and socially responsive.

INNS will serve as a dynamic hub for interdisciplinary collaboration across the full spectrum of brain-related research — from biological foundations to behavior and cognition, and from fundamental research to medical innovations that advance human flourishing. Research areas will encompass the foundations of human intelligence and movement, bio-inspired design and neurotechnology development, and the ethical dimensions of a neuro-connected future. 

By integrating technical innovation with human-centered inquiry, INNS is committed to ensuring that advances in neuroscience and neurotechnology are developed and applied ethically and responsibly. Through fostering innovation, cultivating interdisciplinary expertise, and engaging with the public, the institute seeks to shape a future where advancements in neuroscience and neurotechnology serve the greater good. INNS also aims to deepen Georgia Tech’s collaborations with clinical, academic, and industry partners, creating new pathways for translational research and real-world impact.

An internal search for INNS’s inaugural executive director is in the final stages, with an announcement expected soon.

Join our mailing list to receive the latest updates on everything neuro at Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech engineers have created a pill that could effectively deliver insulin and other injectable drugs, making medicines for chronic illnesses easier for patients to take, less invasive, and potentially less expensive.

Along with insulin, it also could be used for semaglutide — the popular GLP-1 medication sold as Ozempic and Wegovy — and a host of other top-selling protein-based medications like antibodies and growth hormone that are part of a $400 billion market.

These drugs usually have to be injected because they can’t overcome the protective barriers of the gastrointestinal tract. Georgia Tech’s new capsule uses a small pressurized “explosion” to shoot medicine past those barriers in the small intestine and into the bloodstream. Unlike other designs, it has no complicated moving parts and requires no battery or stored energy.

“This study introduces a new way of drug delivery that is as easy as swallowing a pill and replaces the need for painful injections,” said Mark Prausnitz, who created the pill in his lab with former Ph.D. student Joshua Palacios and other student researchers. 

In animal lab tests, they showed their capsule lowered blood sugar levels just like traditional insulin injections. The researchers reported their pill design and study results DATE in the Journal of Controlled Release.

Read about the technology on the College of Engineering website.

Effective July 1, W. Jud Ready will serve as the inaugural executive director of Georgia Tech’s new Space Research Institute (SRI), which will officially launch on the same date. 

The SRI builds upon Georgia Tech’s long and distinguished history in space research and exploration. By uniting experts across disciplines — from aerospace engineering to planetary science, astrophysics, robotics, policy, the arts, and origin of life explorations — the SRI aims to create a resilient ecosystem for space research that can adapt and thrive, even in an era of fiscal uncertainty. It is composed of faculty, staff, and students whose collaborative research spans a broad spectrum of space-related topics, all deeply connected to advancing our understanding of space and its impact on the human experience.

“The launch of the SRI comes at a pivotal moment for the scientific community,” said Vice President of Interdisciplinary Research Julia Kubanek. “As the federal government proposes major cuts to funding agencies, our interdisciplinary research institutes are striving to support faculty and make them more competitive across disciplinary boundaries. This institute will publicly showcase impactful research led by Georgia Tech faculty, attract new collaborators, and pursue alternative funding strategies via philanthropic and industry partners.”

The Space Research Institute will consist of an interdisciplinary community of faculty across Georgia Tech’s schools, colleges, and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). 

“It is an honor to be appointed executive director of the Space Research Institute,” said Ready. “My plan is to provide internal and external space researchers with access to Georgia Tech’s world class facilities and turbocharge the space activities already underway. We’re committed to empowering our existing community while forging new partnerships that will expand our reach and impact across the global space ecosystem.”

Ready, a principal research engineer in GTRI’s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory, is the first GTRI faculty member to serve in a long-term capacity as an IRI executive director. Prior to his appointment, he served as associate director of external engagement for the Georgia Tech Institute for Matter and Systems and director of the Georgia Tech Center for Space Technology and Research (CSTAR). He is also an adjunct professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech.

Before joining the Georgia Tech faculty, Ready worked for General Dynamics and MicroCoating Technologies. Throughout his career, he has served as PI or co-PI for grants totaling more than $25M awarded by the Army, Navy, Air Force, DARPA, NASA, NSF, NIST, DOE, other federal sponsors, industry, charitable foundations, private citizens, and the States of Georgia and Florida. His current research focuses primarily on energy capture, storage, and delivery enabled by nanomaterial design. His research has been included on three missions to the International Space Station, two others to low earth orbit, and one perpetually in heliocentric orbit (Lunar Flashlight). His future space missions include MISSE-21 to the International Space Station and SSTEF-1 to the Lunar surface. A half dozen solar cells from his past missions to the International Space Station will be included in the permanent At Home in Space exhibit opening on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's 50th Anniversary.

Ready has received numerous awards and honors for his work. His most recent awards include the Class of 1934 Outstanding Innovative Use of Education Technology award in 2025 and the Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development award in 2023, both from Georgia Tech. He also received the One GTRI Collaboration Award in 2022, which he was awarded during GTRI’s annual Distinguished Performance Awards celebration.

Additional articles of interest:

10 Questions with Jud Ready
Space Station Testing Will Evaluate Photovoltaic Materials

 

More than 70 people convened at Duke University and virtually on April 3 to highlight successes, challenges and opportunities across research, industry and policy on regional electric mobility in the Southeast.

The April 2025 Southeast Electric Transportation Regional Initiative (SETRI) meeting provided an information-sharing forum for a multisector group of electric mobility organizations from across the region. SETRI is a collaborative network connecting, informing and advancing transportation electrification in the Southeast. The event was hosted by the Duke University Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability and Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute, in collaboration with SETRI partner organizations.

“Bringing this multisector community together is important to share ideas on how to best advance electric mobility—a key emerging industry in the southeastern United States and important strategy for reducing transportation emissions,” said Trey Gowdy, Nicholas Institute research lead and SETRI co-facilitator.

Throughout the morning, speakers shared insights about the electric vehicle (EV) landscape in North Carolina and throughout the Southeast, the state of the EV market and manufacturing, charging infrastructure, consumer education and local engagement and more. The event also featured a poster session, networking and an electric vehicle display.

SETRI organizers announced during the meeting that the Southeast Portal for Electric Transportation Opportunities has shared more than 500 opportunities since launching two years ago. The portal lists active funding sources, comment solicitations, research opportunities, events and other timely information related to transportation electrification in the region.

“A focus of the SETRI network has been to deepen connections within our region, with the aim of accelerating progress between utilities, charging companies, investors, NGOs and universities. It was great to be in Durham after our session in Atlanta last year,” said Richard Simmons, principal research engineer at the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute and SETRI co-facilitator.

Read Full Story on the Duke Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability Newspage