The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has been awarded more than $1.4 million as part of a landmark $152 million artificial intelligence (AI) grant from the National Science Foundation and NVIDIA to the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2). The nationwide initiative will develop the first fully open AI system designed specifically to accelerate scientific research and innovation, and UH Hilo faculty and students will play a key role.
“Having UH Hilo involved is going to raise the AI profile of UH Hilo, and it’s going to definitely enhance our programs in data science, especially, but also computer science, to help us offer more of this cutting edge work in AI to our students,” said Travis Mandel, associate professor of computer science and coordinator of UH Hilo’s Data Science Program.
The project will integrate state-of-the-art AI infrastructure into UH Hilo’s academic programs, creating summer research opportunities, school-year internships, and collaborations with leading AI experts. Students will work side-by-side with faculty and scientists applying AI to local and global challenges in fields such as astronomy, marine science, and climate research.
“If Hawaiʻi wants to be involved in this AI revolution, we need to be able to evaluate how well these systems are helping with problems that we care about here,” explained Mandel.
Mandel serves as co-principal investigator of the subaward and will co-lead adaptation and community engagement efforts to ensure the AI models meet the needs of diverse scientific communities, including researchers across Hawaiʻi
The AI system will be fully open—a rare feature in the field —allowing UH Hilo students and faculty to not only use but also explore and modify how the models are trained. This transparency will help demystify AI and give students direct experience with high-performance systems often inaccessible to smaller institutions.
“We are honored to work alongside Ai2 and the other university partners on this groundbreaking initiative,” said Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin. “This award reflects our university's growing strength in data science education and our commitment to advancing Hawaiʻi’s role in the nation’s technological future.”
For more go to UH Hilo’s Kūkala Nūhou.
