Most people imagine Silicon Valley tech giants when they picture artificial intelligence. In contrast, others fear automated machines replacing hard-working people. However, a very different story unfolds across North Carolina’s industrial parks today. Sara Shashaani leads a project at NC State that puts human workers first.

Shashaani recently won a $1.5 million state research grant for this work. “The broader goal,” Shashaani explains, “is to make sophisticated AI and optimization capabilities more practical and accessible for small and mid-sized manufacturers.” As a result, local family businesses are protected while giving veteran machinists modern tools.

The Human Cost of the Tech Gap

For generations, local factories provided the financial backbone for small North Carolina towns. Experienced machinists took great pride in their craft because they knew every machine sound. Meanwhile, global corporations spent millions of dollars on high-tech algorithms. Consequently, local shop owners face growing financial pressure and personal burnout. Small factories simply cannot hire expensive data scientists for custom tech projects.

Furthermore, traditional artificial intelligence requires uploading raw factory data to central cloud servers. Therefore, local plant owners worry that shared data will expose their valuable trade secrets.

Protecting Local Secrets and Pride

To solve this problem, Shashaani’s team uses a new method called federated learning. Instead of moving sensitive files off-site, the AI software travels directly to the factory floor.

Local operators train the software on their own machinery inside the building. Thus, this private setup keeps trade secrets completely safe behind closed doors. When the software finds a useful pattern, it sends an encrypted lesson to a main network. The central system combines these lessons into one smart collective tool. Ultimately, this approach shields small businesses while protecting their independence.

Additionally, this initiative brings together experts from across the state through a strong interdisciplinary partnership with Western Carolina University. By uniting specialists from different university departments and regional campuses, the team combines diverse academic strengths to solve real-world industrial problems. Therefore, this collaborative network ensures that cutting-edge engineering solutions directly reach and benefit regional communities. 

Giving Machinists a Digital Partner

Software engineers build networks, but industrial engineers ease the daily stress of factory workers.

For instance, Shashaani’s team builds digital twins that mirror physical factory equipment. Managers and technicians use these virtual copies “to support applications such as process optimization, quality monitoring and predictive maintenance.” These tools help workers test decisions and prevent sudden machine breakdowns.

Saving Local Jobs and Communities

At its core, this project preserves small communities and opens new economic doors. Specifically, Shashaani’s team runs hands-on workshops, mentoring sessions, and training classes. These programs help veteran machinists and young technicians learn modern technical skills. As a result, workers build higher-paying, future-proof careers in their own hometowns.

Shashaani’s team is combining mathematical tools with real machine data. They are ensuring local factories do not just adapt to AI but actually lead it.