Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Traugott Bing Dong to Speak at Prestigious Artificial Intelligence Conference
In a significant development for the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and urban sustainability, Professor Bing Dong from Syracuse University will be organizing a workshop at the prestigious NeurIPS conference in San Diego, California, from December 2-7, 2025. The workshop, titled "UrbanAI: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Smart Cities," will focus on AI tools and technologies for optimizing urban areas, including transportation infrastructure, traffic management, power systems, and building HVAC.
The workshop, which is the first of its kind at NeurIPS, reflects the growing importance of AI in addressing environmental challenges and creating more sustainable cities. Professor Dong's research, which centres around advanced building controls, building energy system modelling, and indoor environmental quality, forms the backbone of the workshop's objectives.
The UrbanAI workshop will be a collaborative effort, bringing together experts from diverse backgrounds to address the multifaceted challenges of urban sustainability. Professor Dong is collaborating with distinguished colleagues from prestigious institutions like Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Washington, as well as Mila, a Canadian research institute founded by Yoshua Bengio, the recipient of the A.M. Turing Award, often referred to as the "Nobel Prize of Computing."
The workshop proposal for UrbanAI was submitted by Professor Dong, who has been chosen to lead this initiative due to his extensive experience in the field. The acceptance rate for NeurIPS workshop proposals is just under 20%, making the selection a testament to the quality and potential impact of the UrbanAI workshop.
The goal of the workshop is to make cities more efficient and reduce carbon emissions through integrated machine learning solutions. The key topics of the workshop include optimization of urban environments, mitigation of carbon emissions, and the creation of a collaborative ecosystem. The primary goal is to explore and advance the applications of AI in urban settings, particularly in optimizing infrastructure and services. By bringing together leading researchers, the workshop seeks to foster innovation and collaborative solutions to urban challenges. It also aims to address future challenges in smart city development, focusing on energy and environmental issues.
Zixin Jiang, a Ph.D. candidate in Professor Dong's lab, will be speaking at the conference, further demonstrating the commitment to nurturing talent and fostering collaboration in the field. The UrbanAI workshop promises to be a pivotal event in the advancement of AI for urban sustainability, setting the stage for a more efficient, sustainable, and smart future.
The UrbanAI workshop, a collaborative initiative between experts from diverse backgrounds, signifies the increasing role of artificial-intelligence (AI) in addressing urban sustainability challenges and creating smart cities. Professor Dong, the lead organizer, and his research in advanced building controls and AI tools contribute significantly to the objectives of this pioneering NeurIPS event.
