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Signal and image sciences community celebrates record-breaking 30th annual CASIS workshop

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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory called and the signal and image sciences community answered: The Center for Advanced Signal and Image Sciences (CASIS) hosted their 30th annual workshop at the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center (UCLCC) on June 24-25, setting new records for attendance and technical contributions in the workshop’s three-decade history.

This year’s workshop drew 303 registrants, a 35% increase over 2025 and more than double the attendance of just three years ago, along with around 70 talks and 55 posters spanning eight tracks on a parallel agenda: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, National Ignition Facility, Non-Destructive Evaluation, Quantum Sensing and Quantum Computing, Remote Sensing/Non-Invasive Imaging and Inverse Problems, Robotics and Automation, a dedicated student track, and a tutorial and seminar track. CASIS’s audience has grown more balanced in recent years, with participation from outside the Lab rising from about 20% of attendees three years ago to 45% this year.

Berkeley Lab to Lead 13 New Genesis Mission AI Projects

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Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced funding for new projects that will harness artificial intelligence to accelerate discovery. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) will lead 13 projects and collaborate as a partner on more than 30 others.

The projects are part of DOE’s Genesis Mission, a historic national initiative that aims to build the world’s most powerful integrated science discovery platform. By uniting government, industry, academia, and philanthropy, it seeks to accelerate breakthroughs in energy, scientific discovery, and national security through a new platform that combines AI, supercomputing, quantum systems, and advanced scientific instruments.

“AI Science at Scale” summit showcases advances in AI-enabled research and innovation | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

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Recently, the University of California (UC), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) convened researchers and leaders from across the UC system in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the first annual AI Science at Scale summit. The summit was planned in recognition of AI’s growing role in scientific discovery and the Department of Energy’s increasing interest in frontier AI, which subsequently formalized in the Genesis mission.

Backed by a $19 million investment from fee income UC earned from managing its DOE national labs, the AI Science at Scale initiative awarded grants to UC and UC-affiliated national laboratory researchers at LLNL and LANL, reinvesting in the DOE scientific enterprise. From a competitive pool of researchers from across the UC system, four multi-campus teams were selected in April 2025, supporting research in AI-driven genomics, quantum materials discovery, geothermal energy, and integrated data platforms.

UC awards $8 million to solve next big scientific and engineering challenges in fusion energy

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The University of California has awarded $8 million in multicampus research grants, in partnership with UC-managed national laboratories, to accelerate progress toward a future powered by abundant, stable, zero-carbon fusion energy.

The UC Initiative for Fusion Energy provides two grants of $4 million over three years. The two winning teams are composed of UC faculty across a wide range of disciplines, representing five UC campuses and the UC-managed Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Labs. This research is funded by fee income the university receives for managing the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.

UCLCC Launches a New Pilot Program: High Energy Density Science Summer School

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By Caroline Liu (UCLCC Communications Intern 2025)

UCLCC Successfully Pilots HEDS Summer School to Meet a Growing and Critical Need

This August, the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center (UCLCC) launched a High Energy Density Science (HEDS) Summer School aimed at encouraging the next generation of scientists to pursue degrees and careers in this emerging and important discipline.

HEDS – the study of matter under extreme conditions of high pressure, temperature, and energy density, such as those found in stars and planets – is essential for fields that are critical to the country’s future and security, such as clean energy, astrophysics and material science. Since 2022, when Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) became the first facility to achieve fusion ignition, the demand for a talented HEDS workforce has dramatically amped up. Yet HEDS remains underrepresented in academia and relatively unknown to many talented young scientists.

The UCLCC summer school sought to address those concerns by introducing undergraduates from across the UCs to HEDS-related fields. A high-powered collaboration among UC campuses and LLNL allowed the program to successfully expose students to current research and experimental facilities at LLNL, offer tips for applying to graduate school, and facilitate networking with UC professors, LLNL scientists, and fellow students.

A Comprehensive Introduction to the Field

Over the course of one week, 24 undergraduates and post baccalaureates from UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC Merced, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz and UC San Diego participated in lectures, hands-on learning activities and small group discussions. The HEDS-related topics – taught by experts from UC and LLNL – ranged from shock and plasma physics to laboratory astrophysics and planetary science.

Those sessions also offered a chance for students to interact closely with HEDS scientists, a rare and fulfilling experience. “I did not have much exposure to this many scientists before,” said Anushka Rajasekhar, a junior at UC Berkeley. “Talking to scientists made me understand my career path.”

To that end, the students also participated in professional development workshops that included tips on resume writing and discussions about careers at the national labs. Many also attended tours at LLNL and even had time for self-organized social activities, such as rock climbing.

A Powerful Collaborative Effort

The program demonstrates the power of growing collaborations among the UC campuses and the national labs.  Federica Coppari, Ph.D., from LLNL,  Camille Bibeau, Ph.D., from UC Office of the President, Franklin Dollar, Ph.D., from UC Irvine, David Strubbe, Ph.D., from UC Merced and Farhat Beg, Ph.D., from UC San Diego led the effort.

Christopher Zhen, an incoming junior at UC San Diego believes, “the HEDS Summer School program has opened multiple pathways in exploration of plasmas, lasers and fusion. I greatly appreciate the speakers I’ve listened to, the facilities I’ve toured, the knowledge and connections I have made here.”

He also appreciated the opportunities to connect with UC students from different campuses interested in the same field, adding, “I have made such good friends here and it was overall a great experience.”

As the importance of programs and careers in HEDS continues to grow, filling the pipeline with brilliant young scientists will be essential. The HEDS Summer School offers one exciting example of just how that work can get done.