The Student Sustainability Coalition hosted a town hall April 21 to facilitate dialogue around the University of Michigan’s joint computational facility with Los Alamos National Laboratory. 

The forum provided an opportunity for students to ask questions and hear from project leads, who gave progress updates and context on the university’s broader research partnership and joint initiative.

Student organizer Andrew van Baal called the event a success. 

“Students have been talking about the Los Alamos project and raising concerns about the broader AI and data center development dialogue for months now,” said van Baal, a graduate student in the School for Environment and Sustainability. “I’m hopeful that the town hall closed some information and access gaps for students. We were able to get through all pre- and live-submitted audience questions and ensured the discussion followed students’ key themes of environmental sustainability, equitable community engagement, and institutional priorities and transparency.”

The potential environmental impact was a top concern, specifically regarding the planned facility’s energy and water footprint. Shana Weber, associate vice president for campus sustainability and innovation, acknowledged those concerns and noted that student input and faculty expertise will be requested and incorporated as the facility design progresses.

“These are exactly the societal challenges around the growth of AI and computing,” Weber said. “We want to be at the center of problem solving around these issues — not just for this facility but as a model for other facilities.”

Weber explained that many design elements cannot be finalized until a specific location is chosen. “Depending on where this is sited, we will look for opportunities to actually improve the site,” she said. “We are looking forward to a time when the project is developed enough that we can start exploring what these opportunities are with the community.”

Students also asked about the facility’s research mission and the partnership with LANL. Karthik Duraisamy, professor of engineering and director of the Michigan Institute for Computational Discovery and Engineering, explained that the facility will use computing for scientific discovery and provided examples of how U-M researchers are already utilizing computing and AI for life-saving breakthroughs and societal benefit. 

“Computing is driving science and is transforming the kind of questions we can ask, what problems we can solve and how quickly solutions can reach the people who need it most,” Duraisamy said. 

Duraisamy noted that U-M and LANL have had a longstanding collaboration on scientific research. 

“This is not a new partnership; Michigan and Los Alamos have been collaborating since the founding of Los Alamos,” he said. 

Duraisamy explained that records go back to 1973, and in this timespan, no other university has published more collaborative work with LANL than the University of Michigan in areas including physics, astronomy, chemistry, and atmospheric and geosciences. 

Alex Wadell, a recent U-M Ph.D. graduate who worked on AI-driven discovery of battery materials for his dissertation and is currently working in AI4Science, added that such a facility would have been a significant asset to his own academic work. 

“I used a lot of computing from external partners in building my molecular AI model, so having this kind of resource on campus would have been huge,” Wadell said.

Students also posed questions about U-M’s community engagement and the facility’s potential social impact on the local area. Steven Ceccio, project lead and professor of engineering, acknowledged community concerns regarding power and water rates, noise, and other local impacts. 

“It’s our intent to be a good neighbor and not build a facility that would have those deleterious impacts, and I am certain we can do that,” Ceccio said. 

Chris Kolb, vice president for government relations, noted that U-M regularly partners with host communities to help fund local priorities. 

“We extended this offer to Ypsilanti Township and they have yet to bring any ideas for projects forward, but with the city of Ann Arbor, we do this quite extensively — from park improvements to helping with infrastructure projects,” Kolb said. “We have also invested in nonprofit organizations within Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County to address needs ranging from food insecurity to healthcare and education.”

Ceccio added that the university aims to intensify community engagement efforts. “We have been hoping to re-engage the community once we have a site selected so we can talk about the specific opportunities to partner with them.”

Sarah Mills, director of the Center for EmPowering Communities at the Graham Sustainability Institute, was asked to share her perspective on effective community engagement. 

“It’s important that engagement is done early before plans are fully cooked, so that feedback can matter,” Mills said. “People want to have a say and have that incorporated into the final plans.”

Ceccio and Kolb reaffirmed that the university is planning to do additional community engagement events for both Ypsilanti Township and the internal U-M community. 

Student organizers said they view the town hall as the first of many sessions intended to keep the student body informed and involved. 

“The town hall provided both immediate value to students and the project team with access to better information,” van Baal said. “It will ideally serve as the foundation for more collaborative sessions and opportunities next year that are co-designed with students leading the charge.”