Associate Professor of Engineering Technology Lei Fan has received an NSF CAREER Award in the amount of $500,018 for his proposal, Optimal Integration of Flexible Data Centers in Power Systems via Quantum Dynamics. This project “aims to develop a quantum–classical optimization framework to improve the integration of data centers into power systems,” and will address the “technical challenge of co-optimizing power system operations and data center flexibility under uncertainty.”
The project has two major components: developing advanced optimization models to integrate data centers into power system operations, and identifying the role that quantum computing may play in the process. The increasing number of new data centers being built in the U.S. — and the electricity they require — presents a challenge to power systems. Fan’s project will explore emerging computational paradigms, including quantum-classical optimization methods, that may provide new ways to address these integration challenges.
“As large language models and other AI technologies continue to develop, they are playing an increasingly important role in modern life,” says Fan. “These technologies rely on data centers, which are essential for continued AI development. Energy consumption is a key issue when it comes to data centers, and we need to better coordinate data center operations with power system operations. That’s why this topic is so important: we need to design new algorithms to help data centers operate more flexibly while ensuring that the broader power system is robust and reliable.”
Broader impacts of the project include supporting more cost-effective and reliable power grid operations, advancing more energy-efficient approaches to data center integration, and preparing students with interdisciplinary skills at the intersection of power systems, optimization and quantum computing. Fan considers the award to not only have a large potential impact, but to be a source of personal encouragement.
“This NSF CAREER Award is very encouraging because it supports long-term, use-inspired fundamental research. I am grateful for NSF’s support of early-career researchers pursuing high-risk, high-impact research directions,” he added.
Fan also acknowledged support from his department and college, as well as from the University of Houston’s Energy Transition Institute, Division of Energy and Innovation, and UH Quantum Initiative.
Project funding is estimated to run through April 2031.