Sustaining the U.S. Navy's competitive edge requires cutting-edge scientific innovation and elite workforce training. Addressing this need, the newly established GulfSCEI’s Naval and Subsea Technology (NasTech Research) Group at LSU New Orleans bridges computer science with naval architecture, civil engineering, physics, and environmental science to solve complex maritime challenges. The research group applies artificial intelligence (AI), scientific computing, and environmental informatics to marine and coastal systems. NasTech develops software and computational methods to analyze environmental observations, model marine systems, and improve how existing vehicles and sensing platforms are used.

NasTech has joined forces with UMass Dartmouth's Marine and UnderSea Technology (MUST) Research Program. For years, LSU New Orleans and UMass Dartmouth have driven maritime research and workforce development alongside the Naval Research Lab at Stennis Space Center (NRL-SSC) and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport. Through these strong partnerships, NasTech and MUST will collaborate directly with DoN to build advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the next generation of undersea technology.

The research goals for this partnership directly map to the official Capability Focus Areas (CFAs) of the U.S. Navy’s Undersea Warfare Science and Technology (USW S&T) Strategy. By bridging academic research with naval needs, this collaboration focuses on four core technical priorities:

• Autonomy and Unmanned Systems: Advancing self-navigating, intelligent underwater vehicles.
• Information Dominance and Cyber: Securing subsea networks and ensuring tactical data integrity.
• Underwater Acoustics: Enhancing passive and active sonar processing, directly supporting Tactical Undersea Warfare Systems.
• AI-Driven Ocean Dynamics: Leveraging machine learning for ocean prediction and data assimilation.

To drive these strategic priorities forward, NasTech and MUST will collaborate directly with Navy scientists and engineers at both NRL-SSC and NUWC. Their joint research initiatives include:

• AI-based prediction system for forecasting environmental and sea surface parameters
• AI-based processing and analysis of marine mammal vocalizations
• Integrating low-cost broadcasting sensor platforms for high-resolution distributed marine hydroacoustic
• Developing Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) with low acoustic, radar, and optical signatures to carry sensors into dangerous areas like harbors and streams in support of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions
• Developing an AI-based motion planning algorithm under uncertainties for AUVs
• Developing physics-informed digital twins of vessels for fleet management, vessel performance monitoring, vessel structure health monitoring, and warfighters’ training
• Improving detection, classification, and contact management capabilities against undersea targets
• Improving undersea and above-water sensing capability
• Integrating mission module payloads (acoustic arrays, side scan sonars, seabed interrogation, and others) onto various marine robotic systems

NasTech and MUST are actively pursuing major research funding through the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Department for Ocean Battle Sensing, with a target award date in the fourth quarter of 2027.

Building a skilled technical workforce is the foundation for growing the marine and defense industries in Louisiana. Investing in training programs allows our state to directly support the DoN's expanding needs while anchoring long-term job growth. Beyond talent, we need to back the small businesses driving marine science innovation. Linking these agile companies with higher education and DoN will sharpen their technological edge, streamline production, and refine product design. Together, cooperation between NasTech and MUST will spark the kind of dual-use technical advances that fuel real economic growth.

NasTech Faculty and Staff Members:

• Mahdi Abdelguerfi, Professor of Computer Science and founding Director of GulfSCEI
• Nathan Cooper, Senior Research Engineer, GulfSCEI
• Meftah Ferdaus, Postdoctoral Research Associate, GulfSCEI
• Edward (Ted) Holmberg, Postdoctoral Research Associate, GulfSCEI
• Dr. Matthew Tarr, Professor, Chemistry Department
• Dr. Brandon Taravella, Professor, Boysle Bollinger School of Naval Architecture
• Dr. Vincent Xiaochuan Yu, Professor, Boysle Bollinger School of Naval Architecture
• Dr. Kendal M. Leftwich, Assistant Professor, Physics
• Dr. Madeleine Foster-Martinez, Assistant Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Civil Engineering