PNNL

RICHLAND, Wash. — Student winners of this year’s regional National Science Bowl competitions will hear about the future of AI from two researchers from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory this spring. The national competition will take place April 30 - May 4, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

More than 10,000 middle and high school students compete annually, hoping to make it into the national competition where they’ll be able to hear talks from scientific experts such as PNNL’s Robert Rallo and Nathan Hodas. The program was launched in 1991 to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Rallo’s and Hodas’s presentations will reflect PNNL’s contributions to the DOE’s Genesis Mission, an initiative to use advanced computing and AI to accelerate breakthroughs in energy innovation and national security. For students, these talks will provide a glimpse into the kind of research they may one day help lead.

Rallo, a computer scientist, will discuss how AI is evolving from a computational tool into a collaborative partner.

“AI is something people are already excited about, often because they’ve seen it in movies and TV shows,” Rallo said. “I’m looking forward to the questions students ask and what they find most interesting.”

His presentation will focus on how modern AI systems are increasingly able to assist researchers by suggesting experiments, identifying patterns in complex data and handling routine tasks. This assistance allows scientists to focus on interpretation and experimental strategy, a goal central to the Genesis Mission.

“I’ve seen its evolution and I’m excited to see what AI can bring to new tools and computing capabilities,” Rallo said. “My main regret is that I am too old to see all the wonderful things that are going to be coming.”

Data scientist Nathan Hodas will focus on what goes on inside AI models, between the input and output, and how thinking in high dimensional spaces helps researchers see where AI is going.

“We’re at a time right now where a lot of students are asking themselves, ‘what career should I be picking? What is the future going to look like for myself?’” said Hodas. “There’s even some anxiety around understanding AI and how it works.”

Hodas explained it is easy to think about lines or curves in 1-D or 2-D, but to imagine a shape in one thousand dimensions would allow you to understand some crucial things about how AI works.

“We’re using AI at the Laboratory extensively every day,” Hodas said. “For the last 75 years it’s been a broken promise, but now we’re really seeing some big successes, which is why we must pay close attention to how it works and how it’s going to impact us. It’s not a matter for the future, it’s happening today.”

PNNL also hosts one of 65 Regional High School Science Bowl competitions each year. The 2026 regional winner, Lakeside School of Seattle, Wash., will represent the region at the national competition. The students receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the national competition, where they’ll enjoy several days of science activities, sightseeing and competitions.