Photo by Christopher McKenney
International trade relationships have kept the global economy running since ancient times. In the last 40 years, the processes and regulations governing international trade have become more organized and structured. Now countries create trade agreements to establish standards for which countries can freely trade without tariffs and other barriers. However, these agreements aren’t always permanent. New research from Georgia Tech can predict the stability of trade relationships between countries.
According to School of Economics Professor Tibor Besedes, there are two broad types of trade agreements: shallow and deep. Shallow agreements, such as reducing tariffs, are straightforward. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement — a trade agreement between the U.S. and its northern and southern neighbors is shallow because it focuses on reducing tariffs. Conversely, a deep agreement is more comprehensive and involves integration between countries’ economic systems.
“Often in deep agreements, countries start to harmonize standards; for example, car emission regulations are identical across all the countries signing the agreement, which makes it easier for goods to travel between borders,” Besedes said.
The European Union (EU) is a textbook example of a deep agreement. The EU countries’ level of integration extends to their basic currency, ensuring all EU members use the euro and making trade easier.
Using the United Nations commodity trade database and Baier and Bergstrand’s trade agreements database — some of the most comprehensive datasets in the field — the researchers formulated a mathematical model to determine whether trade depth affects stability. The results were surprising. While both deep and shallow agreements result in less stable relationships, the effects of shallow agreements are larger than deep ones. Though both types of agreements allow firms to experiment in international trade because costs are reduced, those experiments often fail and create some instability that can lead to dissolution. Think of Brexit, when the U.K. left the EU in 2020.
“Shallow agreements reduce the cost of trading,” Besedes noted. “When a country signs a trade agreement, it reduces tariff rates. That reduces the cost of trading in the long run because the country has already established that relationship, and it’s now even easier to trade future products.”
Trade agreements generally last years, though some long-established international agreements may change in the current political climate.
“Tariffs going up could make existing relationships less stable, and it’s more likely that we’ll stop trading a particular product or stop importing product,” Besedes said. “On the flip side, it also means that other countries could impose tariffs on the U.S., and there will be less of an opportunity for American businesses to export their products.”
While no one can fully predict how global trade relationships will change in the coming years, the stability the world has come to expect could be a thing of the past.
Tess Malone, Senior Research Writer/Editor
tess.malone@gatech.edu
Many communities rely on insights from computer-based models and simulations. This week, a nest of Georgia Tech experts are swarming an international conference to present their latest advancements in these tools, which offer solutions to pressing challenges in science and engineering.
Students and faculty from the School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) are leading the Georgia Tech contingent at the SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering (CSE25). The Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) organizes CSE25, occurring March 3-7 in Fort Worth, Texas.
At CSE25, the School of CSE researchers are presenting papers that apply computing approaches to varying fields, including:
[Related: GT CSE at SIAM CSE25 Interactive Graphic]
“In CSE, researchers from different disciplines work together to develop new computational methods that we could not have developed alone,” said School of CSE Professor Edmond Chow.
“These methods enable new science and engineering to be performed using computation.”
CSE is a discipline dedicated to advancing computational techniques to study and analyze scientific and engineering systems. CSE complements theory and experimentation as modes of scientific discovery.
Held every other year, CSE25 is the primary conference for the SIAM Activity Group on Computational Science and Engineering (SIAG CSE). School of CSE faculty serve in key roles in leading the group and preparing for the conference.
In December, SIAG CSE members elected Chow to a two-year term as the group’s vice chair. This election comes after Chow completed a term as the SIAG CSE program director.
School of CSE Associate Professor Elizabeth Cherry has co-chaired the CSE25 organizing committee since the last conference in 2023. Later that year, SIAM members reelected Cherry to a second, three-year term as a council member at large.
At Georgia Tech, Chow serves as the associate chair of the School of CSE. Cherry, who recently became the associate dean for graduate education of the College of Computing, continues as the director of CSE programs.
“With our strong emphasis on developing and applying computational tools and techniques to solve real-world problems, researchers in the School of CSE are well positioned to serve as leaders in computational science and engineering both within Georgia Tech and in the broader professional community,” Cherry said.
Georgia Tech’s School of CSE was first organized as a division in 2005, becoming one of the world’s first academic departments devoted to the discipline. The division reorganized as a school in 2010 after establishing the flagship CSE Ph.D. and M.S. programs, hiring nine faculty members, and attaining substantial research funding.
Ten School of CSE faculty members are presenting research at CSE25, representing one-third of the School’s faculty body. Of the 23 accepted papers written by Georgia Tech researchers, 15 originate from School of CSE authors.
The list of School of CSE researchers, paper titles, and abstracts includes:
Bayesian Optimal Design Accelerates Discovery of Material Properties from Bubble Dynamics
Postdoctoral Fellow Tianyi Chu, Joseph Beckett, Bachir Abeid, and Jonathan Estrada (University of Michigan), Assistant Professor Spencer Bryngelson
[Abstract]
Latent-EnSF: A Latent Ensemble Score Filter for High-Dimensional Data Assimilation with Sparse Observation Data
Ph.D. student Phillip Si, Assistant Professor Peng Chen
[Abstract]
A Goal-Oriented Quadratic Latent Dynamic Network Surrogate Model for Parameterized Systems
Yuhang Li, Stefan Henneking, Omar Ghattas (University of Texas at Austin), Assistant Professor Peng Chen
[Abstract]
Posterior Covariance Structures in Gaussian Processes
Yuanzhe Xi (Emory University), Difeng Cai (Southern Methodist University), Professor Edmond Chow
[Abstract]
Robust Digital Twin for Geological Carbon Storage
Professor Felix Herrmann, Ph.D. student Abhinav Gahlot, alumnus Rafael Orozco (Ph.D. CSE-CSE 2024), alumnus Ziyi (Francis) Yin (Ph.D. CSE-CSE 2024), and Ph.D. candidate Grant Bruer
[Abstract]
Industry-Scale Uncertainty-Aware Full Waveform Inference with Generative Models
Rafael Orozco, Ph.D. student Tuna Erdinc, alumnus Mathias Louboutin (Ph.D. CS-CSE 2020), and Professor Felix Herrmann
[Abstract]
Optimizing Coupled Systems: Insights from Co-Design Imaging and Optical Chemistry
Assistant Professor Raphaël Pestourie, Wenchao Ma and Steven Johnson (MIT), Lu Lu (Yale University), Zin Lin (Virginia Tech)
[Abstract]
Multifidelity Linear Regression for Scientific Machine Learning from Scarce Data
Assistant Professor Elizabeth Qian, Ph.D. student Dayoung Kang, Vignesh Sella, Anirban Chaudhuri and Anirban Chaudhuri (University of Texas at Austin)
[Abstract]
LyapInf: Data-Driven Estimation of Stability Guarantees for Nonlinear Dynamical Systems
Ph.D. candidate Tomoki Koike and Assistant Professor Elizabeth Qian
[Abstract]
The Information Geometric Regularization of the Euler Equation
Alumnus Ruijia Cao (B.S. CS 2024), Assistant Professor Florian Schäfer
[Abstract]
Maximum Likelihood Discretization of the Transport Equation
Ph.D. student Brook Eyob, Assistant Professor Florian Schäfer
[Abstract]
Intelligent Attractors for Singularly Perturbed Dynamical Systems
Daniel A. Serino (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Allen Alvarez Loya (University of Colorado Boulder), Joshua W. Burby, Ioannis G. Kevrekidis (Johns Hopkins University), Assistant Professor Qi Tang (Session Co-Organizer)
[Abstract]
Accurate Discretizations and Efficient AMG Solvers for Extremely Anisotropic Diffusion Via Hyperbolic Operators
Golo Wimmer, Ben Southworth, Xianzhu Tang (LANL), Assistant Professor Qi Tang
[Abstract]
Randomized Linear Algebra for Problems in Graph Analytics
Professor Rich Vuduc
[Abstract]
Improving Spgemm Performance Through Reordering and Cluster-Wise Computation
Assistant Professor Helen Xu
[Abstract]
Bryant Wine, Communications Officer
bryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu
The team's modular cell-free protein biosensor platform produces a simple color output based on the amount of protein detected in a sample. That makes it easy for any user, without specialized training, to read the results of a test at home or in areas with limited access to medical resources. (Photo: Candler Hobbs)
Chemical and biomolecular engineers at Georgia Tech have developed a plug-and-play platform for detecting protein biomarkers of disease that’s simple, flexible, and easy to use without costly lab equipment.
Their work could unlock a new wave of at-home testing options and provide new diagnostic capabilities in parts of the world where medical resources are scarce.
The testing platform fills a gap in using cell-free synthetic biology for disease detection. Existing cell-free tools have proven effective at measuring DNA, RNA, and other small molecules, but not proteins. That’s an important advance because proteins in viruses or bacteria tend to change less than the DNA or RNA sequences that encode those proteins. They’re also easier to detect since they can be found on the outside of cell walls or free-floating in biofluids.
“Diagnosing disease and democratizing medical care by putting it into the public's hands has great potential. You can have a big impact on a lot of people,” said Mark Styczynski, William R. McLain Endowed Professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
“I think about that a lot in terms of the developing world, but also there's a lot of healthcare inequality even in the United States. Studies have shown your ZIP code can determine your life expectancy. You can think about people in sub-Saharan Africa or people in rural Appalachia all benefiting. They’re among those who need more access to low-cost tools.”
Styczynski and a group of researchers led by former Ph.D. student Megan McSweeney presented their test in late February in the journal Science Advances.
Joshua Stewart
College of Engineering
A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Georgia Tech has discovered how lateral inhibition helps our brains process visual information, and it could expand our knowledge of sensory perception, leading to applications in neuro-medicine and artificial intelligence.
Lateral inhibition is when certain neurons suppress the activity of their neighboring neurons. Imagine an artist drawing, darkening the lines around the contours, highlighting the boundaries between objects and space, or objects and other objects. Comparably, in the visual system, lateral inhibition sharpens the contrast between different visual stimuli.
“This research is really getting at how our visual system not only highlights important things, but also actively suppresses irrelevant information in the background,” said lead researcher Bilal Haider, associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. “That ability to filter out distractions is crucial.”
Understanding how these inhibitory mechanisms work could provide insights into why people have trouble filtering out distractions or focusing on what’s important, in conditions like autism or ADHD.
“Our findings may also influence how we design artificial intelligence and neural networks,” said Haider, whose team published its work this month in Nature Neuroscience. “Current AI systems treat all the computing units the same, but the brain has figured out how to assign specialized computing roles.”
Joseph Del Rosario, a former graduate student in the Haider lab, was the lead author. Another key contributor was Hannah Choi, assistant professor in the School of Mathematics, and her Research Group in Mathematical Neuroscience. Their team built computational models to test the biological findings.
“Collaborating with mathematicians to really understand the computational principles underlying these inhibitory processes is a great example of how neuroscience can inform fields like AI,” Haider said.
Read more in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering newsroom.
Celebrating the Remarkable Career of Robert Butera
Bill Dracos Appointed Interim Chief Research Operations Officer as Rob Butera Announces His Retirement
It is with immense gratitude and admiration that we announce the retirement of Robert Butera, who has served Georgia Tech with the highest dedication and excellence. As the chief research operations officer (CROO), Butera has facilitated the Institute’s research activities, overseeing research integrity assurance, research administration, research operations/infrastructure, and research development. His leadership and vision have left an indelible mark on Georgia Tech's research enterprise.
Butera’s journey at Georgia Tech began long before his role as CROO. He received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1991. He joined the Institute’s faculty in 1999, after earning his Ph.D. from Rice University and spending several years as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institutes of Health. Over the years, Butera has held numerous pivotal roles, including vice president for research development and operations, associate dean for research in the College of Engineering, and director of the Neural Engineering Center. Prior to joining Georgia Tech’s research leadership, Butera directed the interdisciplinary bioengineering graduate program, then co-founded the Grand Challenges Living Learning Community.
As a professor, Butera graduated 15 Ph.D. students and mentored over 100 undergraduates, for which he received Georgia Tech’s Senior Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award in 2016. He also mentored several postdocs and master’s students.
Butera’s accolades are numerous, including the prestigious Georgia Tech ANAK award and election as a Fellow to both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. He held significant leadership roles within the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. These honors reflect his impact on the field of biomedical engineering and his dedication to advancing scientific knowledge.
Beyond his professional achievements, Butera’s personal passions have also enriched the larger Georgia Tech community. His love for whitewater kayaking, which he discovered through Outdoor Recreation Georgia Tech (ORGT), led to a decade of volunteering as an instructor and trip leader. This commitment to adventure and leadership development has inspired many students and colleagues alike.
"Rob's unwavering commitment to excellence and his visionary leadership have been instrumental in advancing Georgia Tech's research mission. His contributions have not only elevated our institution but have also profoundly impacted the broader scientific community. We are deeply grateful for his service and wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement,” said Tim Lieuwen, executive vice president for Research.
Andrés J. García, executive director of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, shared these heartfelt words: "Rob, the ultimate Yellow Jacket, has been a tireless champion to improve research, educational, and operational processes at Georgia Tech. He has had tremendous positive impact in Georgia Tech, the state, and the nation. We will miss his deep knowledge and expertise, exceptional problem solving, practical perspective, and genuine care for faculty, staff, and students, and we wish him continued success in his next chapter."
Lena Ting, McCamish Foundation Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering in the Walter H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, said, “Rob’s heart has a huge ‘GT’ stamped on it: He has always been engaged in all aspects of Georgia Tech life. I’m always amazed to hear about his undergrad teaching and mentoring, kayaking with ORGT, and advising his fraternity. At the same time, he worked tirelessly to enhance interdisciplinary research and solve challenges affecting faculty research, all while conducting his own innovative research. Rob is a GT nexus, always in the know about what is going on around campus and – more importantly – how and why it got to be that way. He is a great friend and colleague who is always available for a beer, and I’ll miss him dearly.”
As we bid farewell to Rob, we also extend a warm welcome to Bill Dracos, who will serve as the interim chief research operations officer, effective immediately. Bill brings a wealth of experience from his role as Deputy Chief Operating Officer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute and his previous leadership positions at George Mason University, Emory University, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. We are confident Bill will continue to build on Rob's legacy of excellence and innovation.
Thank you, Rob, for your years of service, your unwavering commitment to Georgia Tech, and your inspiring leadership. We wish you all the best in your retirement and look forward to seeing the new adventures you will undoubtedly embark upon.
Georgia Tech is conducting a national search for the next Chief Research Operations Officer. Learn more about the open position.
The new Center for Space Policy and International Relations builds on Georgia Tech's strengths in engineering and sciences as well as the Nunn School's strength in space studies.
The space around Earth is central to life on the surface, encompassing myriad economic, technological, political, and even military considerations that affect the lives of millions. A new center devoted to space policy in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs seeks to support the School’s increasingly robust research and teaching in the area.
"Space is becoming an increasingly important domain for our economy and our national security in the United States, as well as worldwide,” said Mariel Borowitz, associate professor in the Nunn School and director of the new Center for Space Policy and International Relations, which holds its first event next week in Washington. “This center can be a hub that brings researchers together and makes progress on these key research issues.”
The Center, which counts six Nunn School researchers among its initial faculty, seeks to advance research in space governance, space security, and the development of space programs internationally, as well as in areas related to international cooperation and diplomacy.
Already, Nunn School researchers are tackling a variety of interdisciplinary space policy projects, including work on the value of satellite data to improving life on Earth, papers assessing space program developments in China and the Middle East, the international political dimensions of developing a global navigation system for the Moon, creating fair rules around access to resources in space, and understanding just what conflict in space might look like.
Their work reaches across the Georgia Tech campus. For instance, the School partners with four other schools across three colleges to offer a graduate certificate in Astrobiology, and with the College of Engineering, the College of Sciences, and the Scheller College of Business on a graduate certificate in Space Entrepreneurship.
The new Center will also complement the work of Georgia Tech’s Space Research Initiative, announced last year and slated to transition into an Interdisciplinary Research Institute this year, according to Adam N. Stulberg, Sam Nunn School Chair and Professor in the Nunn School.
“With researchers pursuing answers to difficult space policy, security, and governance questions from viewpoints and backgrounds as varied as aeronautics, astrophysics, emerging technologies, and political science, we’re embodying the interdisciplinary spirit that will help drive new discoveries that could make humanity’s future in space, and here on Earth, more productive and peaceful,” Stulberg said.
Lawrence Rubin, a Nunn School associate professor affiliated with the new Center, said Georgia Tech and the Nunn School are in a unique position to surge forward as a widely recognized center for space policy research.
“Few universities can match Georgia Tech’s leadership in both scientific research and space policy. That’s the distinction we are building on,” said Rubin, a Middle East expert with U.S. Defense Department experience who has studied the rise of regional space programs in that part of the world.
Another affiliated researcher, Assistant Professor R. Lincoln Hines, said Georgia Tech is already a great place to study space policy, and the Center will only make it better.
Hines, who studies China’s space program, noted that students have access to training in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering and opportunities to engage in applied research at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. They can also learn from respected researchers who also have practical experience in the field.
For instance, Borowitz is widely cited in the media on space policy issues, has testified before Congress, and is currently tasked part-time to the U.S. Office of Space Commerce, where she is working on a project to move space debris tracking to a civilian agency from the Department of Defense. Another Center affiliate, postdoctoral researcher Thomas González Roberts, will soon start an appointment at the International Telecommunications Union as an academic in residence studying how satellite operators follow international rules.
“Compared to other universities, we already have one of the largest concentrations of scholars on space policy and security,” Roberts said. “Our research footprint and real-world impact is expanding, and our interdisciplinary program has extraordinary competitive advantages for students seeking a career in this field.”
The Nunn School and the Center will officially launch programming for the Center on March 11 with events in Washington, including a discussion on the future of space policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a dinner discussing the challenges of space traffic management, and an event for Georgia Tech alumni in Washington.
For more information on the Center, visit its website.
Michael Pearson
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
Photo by Allison Carter
Georgia Tech chemical engineer Krista Walton has been named vice chancellor for research and innovation at North Carolina State. The role puts her in charge of NC State’s $517 million research enterprise.
Walton has served as Georgia Tech’s associate vice president for research operations and infrastructure since 2023. The role oversees research space and core facilities. She also manages research computing and data, while contributing to policies related to research administration and operations.
Walton is a professor and the Robert "Bud" Moeller Faculty Fellow in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, where she’s served on the faculty since 2009.
“Georgia Tech has helped make me the scholar, researcher, and leader that I am today,” said Walton, who previously served as the College of Engineering’s associate dean for research and innovation. “As I prepare to take on this exciting new role at NC State, I will always be grateful for the mentorship and opportunities for growth that I received during my 16 wonderful years here.”
Walton’s research focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of functional porous materials for use in adsorption applications, including carbon dioxide capture and atmospheric water harvesting. She has co-founded three spin-off companies from her research over the past decade and currently serves as an associate editor for AIChE Journal.
Walton was the founding director and lead principal investigator (PI) on Georgia Tech’s first Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Frontier Research Center in 2014. That center, named UNCAGE-ME, advances the understanding of how porous and electrochemical materials used for hydrogen production and carbon dioxide capture and conversion evolve and degrade when exposed to emerging contaminants. DOE has renewed the center twice for a total of $25 million.
Walton begins her new role at NC State on June 30.
Jason Maderer
maderer@gatech.edu
Assistant Professor Glen Chou is launching research initiatives to develop algorithms enabling autonomous systems to learn and adapt while acting with safety and security assurances. Photo by Terence Rushin, College of Computing
Every year, people in California risk their lives battling wildfires, but in the future, machines powered by artificial intelligence will be on the front lines, not firefighters.
However, this new generation of self-thinking robots will need security protocols to ensure they aren’t susceptible to hackers. To integrate such robots into society, they must come with assurances that they will behave safely around humans.
It begs the question: can you guarantee the safety of something that doesn’t exist yet? It’s something Assistant Professor Glen Chou hopes to accomplish by developing algorithms that will enable autonomous systems to learn and adapt while acting with safety and security assurances.
He plans to launch research initiatives, in collaboration with the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, to secure this new technological frontier as it develops.
“To operate in uncertain real-world environments, robots and other autonomous systems need to leverage and adapt a complex network of perception and control algorithms to turn sensor data into actions,” he said. “To obtain realistic assurances, we must do a joint safety and security analysis on these sensors and algorithms simultaneously, rather than one at a time.”
This end-to-end method would proactively look for flaws in the robot’s systems rather than wait for them to be exploited. This would lead to intrinsically robust robotic systems that can recover from failures.
[RELATED: New Algorithm Teaches Robots Through Human Perspective]
Chou said this research will be helpful in other domains, including advanced space exploration. If a space rover is sent to one of Saturn’s moons, for example, it needs to be able to act and think independently of scientists on Earth.
Aside from fighting fires and exploring space, this technology could perform maintenance in nuclear reactors, automatically maintain the power grid, and make autonomous surgery safer. It could also bring assistive robots into the home, enabling higher standards of care.
This is a challenging domain where safety, security, and privacy concerns are paramount due to frequent, close contact with humans.
This will start in the newly established Trustworthy Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech, which Chou directs. He and his Ph.D. students will design principled algorithms that enable general-purpose robots and autonomous systems to operate capably, safely, and securely with humans while remaining resilient to real-world failures and uncertainty.
Chou earned dual bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer sciences as well as mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2017, a master’s and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Michigan in 2019 and 2022, respectively.
He was a postdoc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory before joining Georgia Tech in November 2024. He received the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellowship program, NSF Graduate Research fellowships, and was named a Robotics: Science and Systems Pioneer in 2022.
J.P. Popham, Communications Officer
Georgia Tech
School of Cybersecurity & Privacy
john.popham@cc.gatech.edu
Register at scmb.gatech.edu
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