Center for Applied AI

CAAI connects university research, students, and industry partners to solve real-world problems, bridging expertise across academic units with the needs of industry and government agencies.

Mission

Accelerate Responsible AI adoption across industries through joint AI R&D, create a highly skilled workforce, and drive sustainable economic development.

Core Strengths

  • Data infrastructure & engineering

  • AI/ML & Generative AI

  • Cloud & compute infrastructure

  • Security & privacy

  • AI robustness, safety, evaluation & verification

Strategic Priorities

  • Establish a national center of excellence in AI

  • Support applied AI research across all disciplines

  • Create research infrastructure (data & AI Compute)

  • Upskill existing workforce; partner with other colleges to prepare students for jobs tomorrow

  • Outreach and industry engagement   

Ongoing Activities

  • NSF AHeAD Center (planned): Proposed NSF IUCRC, with Georgia Tech, Tulane, and the University of Florida, to build AI-augmented decision-support systems for equitable, high-quality healthcare. (nsfahead.org)

  • Health Data and Intelligence Platform (active): Statewide partnerships with Ochsner and LDH Rural Health to advance AI-augmented decision support, anchored by a >$60M CMS-funded rural health data and analytics platform (rhtla.net). ~$0.7M in current funding supports development of a $4M NIH PRIMED-AI proposal.

  • AI-Ready America (proposal submitted): Joint proposal with LA.IO to help small businesses adopt AI, with UL Lafayette as statewide hub for AI readiness training and capacity building.

  • Multi-disciplinary AI-R&D: Several ongoing projects & proposals in energy (DOE Genesis), Manufacturing (NIST, NSF), Cyber-physical security (Raytheon), Engineering Design (GIS)

  • AI Training for Emergency Management and Public Health (active): Specialized training at the GOHSEP Academy and for public health professionals on using AI for disaster response, situational awareness, and emergency communication.

 

 

Related Links

Latest and Greatest

September 21st, 2026

UL Lafayette has been awarded $2.1 million to address rural healthcare needs.

The University’s Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence at UL Lafayette (CAAI)– along with its Louisiana Center... Read More ➝
September 21st, 2026

AHeAD Leadership Presents at State AI Symposium

On August 12-13, 2026, Dr. Raju Gottumukkala and Dr. Aron Culotta presented at the Louisiana Department of Health... Read More ➝
September 11th, 2026

StateChain Summit ’26 is coming to UL Lafayette!

On September 30 and October 1, the LITE Center will welcome state and local government leaders, policymakers,... Read More ➝
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