Travel Grant: Conference on New Frontiers in Networked Dynamical Systems: Assured Learning, Communication, and Control

With the advent of ubiquitous connectivity, large-scale data collection, and the remarkable successes of data driven artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years, we have come to a turning point. The time is ripe to consider how advanced data-driven AI technology will impact networked dynamical systems involving both human and machine agents together with physical infrastructure. This symposium will bring together leading experts from academia, government and industry to help identify promising directions in research and education at this nexus. The symposium will comprise invited talks, panel discussions, and brainstorming sessions. Striking the right balance between data-driven innovations and systematic design will be an important part of the conversation. The outcomes of the symposium will include a meeting report distilled out of the panel discussions and the brainstorming sessions. The report will help inform government and industry stewards / stakeholders about new directions and grand challenges in this important area that will directly impact the nation's competitiveness and security in the coming decades. The symposium will help identify new research directions at the crossroads of key areas of critical interest to NSF and the nation's research enterprise. NSF's Engineering Directorate has multiple major research programs related to AI and AI-enabled systems. The panel discussions, talks, brainstorming sessions, and the final symposium report will inform NSF and other government stakeholders who sponsor and exploit research and development in these critical areas. How do we effectively teach both empirical data-driven and “hard-science” methodology at the same overall number of credit hours? This is one of the key issues that will be discussed at the Symposium, and one of the most important questions we face as we redesign engineering curricula to accommodate the data-driven AI revolution. Bringing together world-class experts to discuss and offer insights on this and other related issues is of tremendous value for the next generation of AI-savvy systems and control engineers. In addition, the organizers will invite select students to participate in the Symposium, paying particular attention to female and URM representation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.