Collaborative research: cybertraining: implementation: small: powercyber: scalable workforce development for AI-enabled power grids

The National Science Foundation Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure awarded the University of South Carolina $200,000 on January 1, 2027, under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070) to deliver PowerCyber, a national training and community-building program for artificial intelligence-enabled power grid research.

PowerCyber scales a successful pilot into a workforce development initiative that prepares faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students to adopt and teach modern cyberinfrastructure methods for AI-driven electricity systems. The project delivers hands-on training, reusable instructional materials, open-source computational environments, and sustained community engagement through a train-the-trainer model combined with research-ready training pathways. Work extends across power engineering education to address the uneven distribution of capabilities in cyberinfrastructure, scalable computing, data-driven modeling, and trustworthy artificial intelligence.

The award supports curriculum adoption across the broader power engineering community by amplifying impact beyond direct participants. Outcomes include strengthening the national cyberinfrastructure workforce, broadening access to advanced computational training, and enabling more reproducible, scalable, and trustworthy research for future electric grids.

Performance occurs in Columbia, South Carolina over the period January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2029. The assistance type is a Project Grant.

Abstract

The U.S. Electric power system is undergoing a rapid transformation driven by inverter-based resources, distributed energy technologies, and emerging artificial intelligence-driven electricity demand. Achieving the scientific and societal benefits of this transformation requires a research workforce that integrates power engineering with advanced cyberinfrastructure, scalable computing, data-driven modeling, and trustworthy artificial intelligence. However, these capabilities remain unevenly distributed across institutions and are not yet systematically embedded in power engineering education. This cybertraining implementation project, powercyber, addresses this GAP by scaling a successful pilot effort into a national training and community-building program for artificial intelligence-enabled power grid research. The project prepares faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students to adopt, teach, and extend modern cyberinfrastructure methods through hands-on training, reusable instructional materials, open-source computational environments, and sustained community engagement. By combining a train-the-trainer model with research-ready training pathways, powercyber amplifies its impact beyond direct participants and accelerates curriculum adoption across the broader power engineering community. The project strengthens the national cyberinfrastructure workforce, broadens access to advanced computational training, and supports more reproducible, scalable, and trustworthy research for future electric grids. These outcomes will help prepare engineers and researchers to build a cleaner, more reliable, and more resilient energy system. 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.- subawards are not planned for this award.