LSU ECE’s Kargarian Wins NSF CAREER Award

Project to Address Algorithms in Large-Scale Systems, Workforce Diversity

March 2, 2020

Amin Kargarian headshotBATON ROUGE, LA – LSU Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Amin Kargarian has received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award for his project, “Machine Learning-Based 4D Decomposition and Distributed Optimization.”

The award extends over the next five years and is for a little more than $500,000.

Kargarian’s project aims to develop scalable distributed optimization algorithms, which would be better suited to address large real-world problems. Current algorithms suffer from a lack of scalability, making them inefficient and computationally expensive when applied to things like power grids, waterworks, etc.

“The performance of the existing distributed optimization algorithms degrades when applied to large problems,” Kargarian said. “The proposed algorithms are expected to perform better than the existing ones and be much faster, even for large optimization problems. [They] can be applied to many engineering problems, such as the management of power systems, traffic flow, gas networks, and water systems.”

The project will also include a focus on diverse students, particularly underrepresented minorities, being exposed to the work being done by Kargarian and his team.

“We need a more diverse workforce for the power industry,” Kargarian said. “This diversity will bring different people with different backgrounds and mindsets together, which leads to a more efficient workplace and power industry.

“I plan to hold several workshops and outreach events, such as LSU Clean Energy Day on March 14, to get in touch with underrepresented and K-12 students, introduce them to some interesting challenges and aspects of power and energy systems, talk to them about the importance of energy, and motivate them to pursue their higher education in power and energy systems.”

LSU Clean Energy Day will take place on Saturday, March 14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Patrick F. Taylor Hall on LSU’s campus. The event is open to high school students and LSU College of Engineering students. Learn more by clicking here to visit the event website.

 

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Contact: Joshua Duplechain

Director of Communications

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josh@lsu.edu