On October 30, 2024, Varsha Rao, Liuzixuan (Peter) Lin, and Rajini Wijayawardana (left to right in the photo), three CS PhD students from the Large-scale Sustainable Systems Group (LSSG) exhibited research and education activities for sustainability at the Climate Frontiers showcase. The showcase was the launch event for the University’s new Institute for Climate & Sustainable Growth.

Led by Prof. Andrew A. Chien, LSSG is one of the pioneers in the research area of sustainable cloud computing . Peter, Rajini and Varsha showed recent research on how to solve the problems that AI datacenters cause (exponential power growth), opportunities in datacenter-power grid coordination, and how to reduce the carbon footprint of storage systems, as well as a seminal ‘Big Problems’ course – Sustainability and Computing (CMSC 29200, Autumn 2023, next in Autumn 2025). Dozens of UChicago undergraduate and graduate students, researchers from PSD, Harris, PME, and power industry leaders visited the booth, forming connections for future research collaborations.

(see Zero-carbon Cloud project for more information about LSSG sustainability research, contact us at rajini@uchicago.edu, lzixuan@uchicago.edu, varsharao@uchicago.edu)

Related News

More UChicago CS stories from this research area.
headshot
UChicago CS News

Assistant Professor Yuxin Chen Receives Prestigious NSF CAREER Award

May 05, 2026
chart
UChicago CS News

Who Gets Hired, Paid, and Liked? Who Gets Credit? New Research Examines AI’s Role in Writing and the Workplace

Apr 22, 2026
Jiayin presenting her work at CHI
UChicago CS News

The Time Constraints of AI Access Could Change How We Think

Apr 21, 2026
headshots
UChicago CS News

University of Chicago Wins Distinguished Laude Institute Moonshots Seed Grant

Apr 15, 2026
collage
UChicago CS News

Incredible Showing of UChicago CS Researchers to CHI 2026

Apr 10, 2026
ai cartoon
UChicago CS News

What If AI Scientists Could Talk to Each Other?

Apr 06, 2026
person using embodied AI to open a window
UChicago CS News

When AI Meets Muscle: Context-Aware Electrical Stimulation Promises a New Way to Guide Human Movements

Apr 03, 2026
graphic
UChicago CS News

UChicago Researchers Build a Tool to Help Fix Peer Review

Apr 02, 2026
iccc team photo
UChicago CS News

UChicago CS Team Qualified for 2026 ICPC World Final Championships in Dubai

Apr 01, 2026
AI wedding photos
UChicago CS News

Mapping the New Rules of “AI Slop”: How Social Media Platforms are Managing AI-Generated Content

Mar 23, 2026
robot
UChicago CS News

How Chicago Robot Tutors Are Teaching SEL Effectively–Without Pretending to Be Human

Mar 19, 2026
screen grab
UChicago CS News

Could AI Help Us Be More Thoughtful Voters?

Mar 17, 2026
arrow-down-largearrow-left-largearrow-right-large-greyarrow-right-large-yellowarrow-right-largearrow-right-smallbutton-arrowclosedocumentfacebookfacet-arrow-down-whitefacet-arrow-downPage 1CheckedCheckedicon-apple-t5backgroundLayer 1icon-google-t5icon-office365-t5icon-outlook-t5backgroundLayer 1icon-outlookcom-t5backgroundLayer 1icon-yahoo-t5backgroundLayer 1internal-yellowinternalintranetlinkedinlinkoutpauseplaypresentationsearch-bluesearchshareslider-arrow-nextslider-arrow-prevtwittervideoyoutube