University of Michigan is partnering with Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop a high-performance computational research facility that will soon provide resources needed for U-M and collaborators to tackle some of the most challenging problems society faces.
The facility will immediately increase capacity for existing U-M research on topics ranging from brain cancer treatments to earthquake-resistant building designs. It will enable teams to ask even more difficult questions, leading to bigger solutions that serve the public good.
The project is creating plenty of attention, excitement, support and opposition.
Helping unpack the complexities of this project is U-M’s Steven Ceccio, project lead and the Vincent T. and Gloria M Gorguze Professor of Engineering, and professor of mechanical engineering and of naval architecture and marine engineering in the College of Engineering.
Ceccio spoke with the Record to answer the most commonly asked questions he receives from U-M faculty, staff and students, community members and media.
What exactly is the purpose of this research facility?
Ceccio: “This research facility is not a commercial data center. It will be a high-performing computing center. We’ll use far less power, less than 1/10th of the energy required to fuel many commercial data center products. We are using specifically designed computers, chips and other technologies for specific research purposes and serving the public good. And, in coordination with the development of the facility, we are deepening our collaboration with LANL’s excellent researchers who will be working and living in Michigan as a result of this project.
The use of computational tools across the research landscape is accelerating. As the questions we ask, and the problems we try to solve, get more and more complicated, the computational resources needed to perform these advanced calculations and simulations get ever larger.
The high-performance computing facility we are developing will be a powerful tool for the U-M research ecosystem across a variety of fields, whether that’s accelerating drug discovery, conducting material science research or helping researchers rapidly identify new treatments for diseases such as cancer and infectious diseases. We can model flood risks and extreme weather with street-level precision, giving local families and emergency responders more time to prepare.”
Is a partnership with Los Alamos new?
Ceccio: “University of Michigan researchers, faculty and students have worked with Department of Energy labs like Los Alamos since Los Alamos was created. Since 1973, LANL and U-M have co-authored 1,985 publications on a wide range of technical fields. And we have an outstanding collaboration through the LANL Michigan SPARC here on campus.
A few years ago, Los Alamos leadership began searching for a partner to help them meet their future needs for computational hardware and the many scientists and engineers who will work on their problems. After examining options offered by different universities and states, Michigan and the University of Michigan won that competition.
LANL determined that U-M would be an attractive partner for both the development of the facility and the creation of a satellite campus. While the intersection between academia, these laboratories and the government goes back to the very beginning and still exists today, this is the first time Los Alamos has expanded to partner with a university in this way.”
From a scientific partner perspective, what will the U-M community gain from this?
Ceccio: “A real advantage U-M has is our people. LANL chose a location with immediate access to experienced — and budding — scientists which makes our institution a global leader in innovation. Los Alamos wants to collaborate and we want that collaboration with them. We want to have their experts, their researchers, close to our faculty, students, and collaborators — providing jobs and learning opportunities in the process.
Los Alamos will open a satellite campus here in Ann Arbor that brings scientists to Michigan to work on public projects. And to be clear, they are not moving people from New Mexico to Michigan — this facility will create 200 new, permanent jobs.”
Our portion of the research facility will feature public projects, but what’s happening at the Los Alamos side?
Ceccio: “Los Alamos researchers work on national security and classified projects. It’s important to remember that ‘national security’ in this context is much broader than people realize. It includes protecting our infrastructure from cyber threats, predicting extreme weather and securing our power grid. In fact, our first joint faculty appointment between Michigan and Los Alamos is focused specifically on making the power grid more resilient.
From a defense standpoint, Los Alamos is tasked with nuclear stewardship — not conducting live tests on weaponry, but instead using advanced computation to ensure the safety and reliability of our existing stockpile without the need for nuclear testing, especially as our stockpile ages. Computation provides an important tool for LANL to achieve this mission.”
And from a facilities standpoint, why Ypsilanti and not Ann Arbor?
Ceccio: “A big question I’ve often received is, ‘Well, if it’s such a great thing, why don’t you just build it on campus?’ And the short answer is: We’d love to. We actually tried to do that.
The main requirements for any new research center, manufacturing facility or other light industrial complex begin with the need for power and cooling. We first looked for sites on our campus, but U-M property does not have adequate electrical power line access. Therefore, we began to explore sites near campus that had the required power, water and zoning for light industrial activity.
We are exploring two sites in Ypsilanti Township that meet those needs. They offer direct access to high-transmission power lines and access to ample municipal water for cooling — not groundwater or nearby surface water.”
Expand on the environmental impact — what’s the energy consumption?
Ceccio: “Again, this is not a commercial data center. It’s much, much smaller, and our footprint reflects that. Commercial data centers often use well over 1,000 megawatts of electrical power annually. Our computational facility will use less than 1/10th that amount and also be much smaller in size.
When the facility opens, we expect to initially use around 50 megawatts annually, and it will be several years after before we ramp up to the 100 megawatt capacity being planned. But even at that upper end of usage, it’s comparable to a modest manufacturing facility, similar to the countless facilities that already exist across southeast Michigan.”
What about water usage?
Ceccio: “The Ypsilanti Township locations under consideration have access to utility water that meets our needs without putting any strain on residents or our Great Lakes environment.
We aren’t using groundwater for this, nor water from the Huron River. We would purchase water from the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority, which gets its water from the Detroit River.
And the authority has ample capacity. At our eventual highest operating level, we could potentially draw 500,000 gallons of water per day. The water utility currently has an excess supply of 8 million to 10 million gallons per day. So the utility actually has way more capacity than it can actually sell to their customers right now.”
What will daily life look like for neighbors of this facility, regardless of its final location?
Ceccio: “It would be a University of Michigan construction project, and we would build to the same standards that we would design any building we design and build. We are designing it in a way that’s attractive and not obtrusive, both from a visual and noise perspective.
Our plans will have to pass through the state’s regulatory review process from an environmental standpoint, including its impact on wetlands and wildlife.
We aren’t assembling products here, we aren’t doing chemical engineering, and residents won’t have the noise, sights and smells of an industrial site. We aren’t taking away residential space — the sites we are exploring are already zoned by Ypsilanti Township for light industrial use.
In fact, Amazon was a previous party exploring purchasing one of the sites we are considering. They would have used the facility as a last-mile distribution center — which would have been allowed under the zoning rules. Our research center would be much smaller and not have the truck traffic that would have accompanied that proposed project. And, if located there, only one-third of the property would be developed, leaving two-thirds of the northern boundary of the site undisturbed.”
How will U-M engage in the local community?
Ceccio: “We recognize that many members of the community have questions and concerns, and that has led to some frustration. We want to be clear: Our goal is to be a long-term, trusted partner in any community where this site will be located.
We’ve made significant efforts to communicate with Ypsilanti Township and the political leadership at all stages of this project, and we will continue to do so. We’ve held multiple public events with community members, and we will continue to plan outreach events. U-M strives to partner with our neighboring communities, and we look forward to having conversations about potential projects we could undertake in partnership with Ypsilanti Township should the facility be sited there.
Tiffany Green
The lies and untruths being told in this article is absolutely astounding. Here are some of my favourites:
Ceccio: “The main requirements for any new research center, manufacturing facility or other light industrial complex begin with the need for power and cooling. … (the Ypsilanti sites) offer direct access to high-transmission power lines…”
Why is DTE building a substation on the property if the infrastructure is already there? If the infrastructure is already there, WHY ARE YOU BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE? Make this make sense.
Ceccio: “We’ve made significant efforts to communicate with Ypsilanti Township and the political leadership at all stages of this project, and we will continue to do so.”
Then why is the Ypsilanti local government stating that they’re being frozen out of even getting the barest hints of information on this project? Why are they going to the ‘multiple events’ just to learn information that should be shared with them by ‘good neighbor” University of Michigan?
Ceccio: “We’ve held multiple public events with community members…”
You’ve held two. While that’s the technical definition of multiple, that’s not the flex you think it is.
The University continues its pattern of environmental racism and classism. They know this is going to be a problem – environmentally and socially – and they don’t want it in their precious backyard. NIMBY A2 at its finest, and Ypsi gets lied to the face and stabbed in the back. Again.
Eric Wahr
Ceccio: “…Los Alamos is tasked with nuclear stewardship — not conducting live tests on weaponry, but instead using advanced computation to ensure the safety and reliability of our existing stockpile…”
So, we aren’t testing bombs, just perfecting them?
I’d also like to see a frank discussion of what benefits this will bring to Ypsilanti Township.
Will the University or LANL consider payment-in-lieu-of-taxes?
Will qualified Ypsilanti Township residents be given preferential hiring for these reported 200 full-time jobs?
Will anyone who works on this project live or spend money in Ypsilanti Township?
As it stands right now, the answers read like the University is freeloading from Ypsilanti Township, while explaining that fact away with soft langauge like “strives to partner” and “potential projects.”
Kyle Roberts
What do you anticipate will happen to Ypsilanti home values in the residential area surrounding the proposed data center after it’s construction?
Is there any anticipation that Ypsilanti residents within the surrounding area will see increases in their utility bills due to the spike in demand for power and resources from the proposed data center’s energy usage?
Circling back to the renewable energy tech planned for the site, what percentage of the power required for the proposed data center will be provided by the renewables?
Comparisons to other data centers aside, 500,000gal of water a day is still an astronomical amount. That’s well over what 1,600 US households use on a daily basis. Will the existing infrastructure currently in place be able to handle cooling water discharges to Ypsi public works or will the township need to upgrade it’s MS4 in order to manage the effluent from the proposed data center?
Laura Zeitlin
UM is NOT working with the Ypsilanti Twp community of Council. Saying it does not make it true. The recent event held at Eagle Crest was useless and did not meet the needs of the community in attendance. Debbie Dingell was there and expressed her disappointment in a letter. Once of our Council reps was in attendance and invited Chris Kolb to meet with the Council and community to address questions, concerns and work together and his response was “We can talk about that.” Ypsi Twp has posted recordings of the two recent meetings which address the issue. Please watch those videos for the truth about what UM is trying to do to and how they have been going about it, with NO REGARD for how this will impact the Ypsilanti Twp community. https://ypsitownship.org/news_detail_T2_R161.php
Pat Steffes
Its funny to mention Ypsilanti was chosen for the “required power, water and zoning” when I was told by Chris Kolb at the recent community meeting that if Ypsilanti tried to rezone the Textile Road location, as discussed as a potential option by the community and Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees after discovering the true scope of this project, that UM does not legally need to abide by zoning laws. If the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees has formally requested UM remove consideration of the Textile Road location, why is it still in consideration? What a demonstration of how to be a “trusted partner”. If Ann Arbor was seriously considered as a potential location, how much additional cost was calculated to build it in Ann Arbor?
I live in Ypsilanti Township and beyond frustrated with my experience throughout this project. UM has continued to avoid accountability for township residents experience, and continues to preach about wanting to engage the community when their actions show they care enough to check the box of community engagement while dismissing the very issues that residents and our local government raise.
Alejandra Foerg
“U-M is partnering with Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop a high-performance computational research facility to tackle some of the most challenging problems society faces. In this Q&A, project lead Steven Ceccio spoke with the Record to answer the most commonly asked questions he receives from U-M faculty, staff and students, community members and media.”
This is getting so exhausting and, frankly, delusional and dangerous in the times we are living in. We do not need more data centers and computations or more “think tanks” to figure out how to “tackle some of the most challenging problems society faces.” We the people from all over the world have been saying it loud and clear for generation upon generation…we need access to clean water, salaries and wages that allow people and families to thrive not just survive, access to schools and education, universal healthcare, maternal and paternal paid time leave! No more wars, no more genocides, no more ecocides, no more femicides, no more child labor, no more child trafficking, no more tech-bro culture, it’s killing us and all of life. Enough is enough. Please stop lying to us and start doing something that actually helps humanity and all of life.
. What we need is to figure out how to live as one human family where children and women and all of life is treated sacredly. What we need to figure out is how to actually cultivate a way of being and living so that tech bro culture does not annihilate all of life.
Briana Chalker
Yet another propaganda piece regarding the data center that no one in Ypsi wants. If the data center is such an amazing opportunity, then why is it not being built in Ann Arbor?
Samuel Vandiver
Dear U-Record,
You might want to stop propagandizing the public. No one is buying it (read the comments!). The attempts to whitewash this project and its impact on Ypsilanti residents are very transparent. It feels like gaslighting at this point. No one (in Ypsilanti) wants the data center. GO AWAY!
Sincerely,
Your Skeptical Reader
Eileen Robinson
The claim that this project will not impact residents or the Great Lakes environment is misleading.
Water drawn from the Detroit River is Great Lakes water. The Detroit River is a direct outflow of the Great Lakes system, so any large withdrawal from it is, by definition, a Great Lakes withdrawal. Purchasing the water through a utility authority does not change its source or its environmental significance.
Saying the project does not use groundwater or the Huron River is a distraction. Surface-water withdrawals at this scale still contribute to cumulative demand on the Great Lakes, which is exactly why the Great Lakes Compact exists.
The assertion that the utility authority has “ample capacity” addresses infrastructure limits, not environmental impact. A potential use of 500,000 gallons per day—over 180 million gallons per year— is substantial. Capacity today does not account for future population growth, climate stress, drought conditions, or emergency needs, nor does it eliminate long-term costs to residents.
Finally, large industrial water users are not impact-free simply because they purchase municipal water. The environmental risk, infrastructure burden, and precedent-setting nature of such withdrawals are shared by the public.
In short, this article relies on technical distinctions to minimize a very real and significant use of Great Lakes water, and Ypsilanti Township residents have been making it clear to UM that we oppose this project.
Julie McLaughlin
WE DONT CARE WHAT YOU LABEL IT AS.
UM has their own power plant but don’t want to use it? you want to come over here and build one and completely destroy our already crappy DTE system.
these people tell so many lies over and over again. who are you trying to fool? literally saying youve been in contact with the Twp when we allllll have been to their meetings enough to know you refuse to share a single FACT about whats happening.
Julie McLaughlin
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Stephanie Collier
You think these people will ever tell us the truth? My neighbors and I have been very outspoken against this data center and UM has continued to not only not listen to us and not take us seriously, but they’re trying to bury us. All that stands between these people and all the money in the world is all of our lives, and it’s a price they are more than happy to pay.
Craig Smith
A representative from LANL recently admitted to a Daily reporter that the facility would be used for nuclear weapons development. Ceccio and Kolb are simply lying to us about that, shamelessly and repeatedly. They are also lying about many other things, as other commenters have pointed out (e.g., that they are being good and communicative partners to people and officials in Ypsi). The Record is just a U-M tool for pushing out positive information about the university, even when that information is actually disinformation. There are many of us — and the numbers are growing — who are organizing against this data center (call it what it is). We won’t let this madness happen. The trump govt is actively attacking and threatening other countries — why on earth would we want to partner with them on nuclear weapons!!????
Nathan Kim
I am ashamed to be part of a University that cuts funding for research and its workers while spending hundreds of millions on nuclear weapons research; I can only hope that the University is ashamed for publishing such nonsense, poorly written, uncompelling and halfhearted propaganda and expects anyone to believe it.
Mary Burton
Apparently Ypsilanti Township has little say because the UM Regent’s power supersedes them. But, not allowing local input or buy-in seems incredibly obtuse and non-democratic. That doesn’t sound like “partnering” with the local community.
Honestly M Record writers, could you be a little more balanced in how you are characterizing this project? Perhaps quoting the people in charge and their answers to the public’s questions mean you are not really investigating and showing other perspectives.
Julie McLaughlin
WE DONT CARE WHAT YOU LABEL IT AS.
UM has their own power plant but don’t want to use it? you want to come over here and build one and completely destroy our already crappy DTE system.
these people tell so many lies over and over again. who are you trying to fool? literally saying youve been in contact with the Twp when we allllll have been to their meetings enough to know you refuse to share a single FACT about whats happening.
Gabby Strzalkowski
I share the outrage and frustration of all of my fellow commenters here. I am a deeply disappointed U-M alum, U-M staff member, and Ypsilanti Township resident who is horrified by the way in which the University of Michigan is ignoring community concerns. I feel like a broken record at this point- there is simply not enough evidence, trust, or mutual benefit to the Ypsi community for U-M to move forward with this project in good faith. The Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees has expressed strong opposition to this facility, and yet U-M continues to move ahead in its planning process. This is highly irresponsible and outright dangerous. The preferred site for this project would situate this facility next to homes, parks, an elementary school, and the Huron River, which is highly inappropriate given this facility will focus mostly on nuclear weapons research, as confirmed by LANL representatives (https://www.michigandaily.com/news/news-briefs/los-alamos-confirms-umich-data-center-to-be-used-for-nuclear-weapons-research/). More information about the perspectives and concerns of Ypsilanti Township government and residents can be found at: https://ypsitownship.org/news_detail_T2_R161.php
For anyone reading who wants to take action to oppose this deeply troubling project, I want to share the following information:
In late 2025, Representative Jimmie Wilson Jr. introduced House Bill 5362 to the Michigan legislature. If passed, this bill would claw back the funds MEDC had originally approved for this project. This bill is currently sitting with the Appropriations Committee- contact them, and contact your Michigan representatives and demand that they pass that bill. If the funds are clawed back, Michigan cannot move forward with this project.
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2025-HB-5362
Robin Wylie
Gabby, thank you for your informative comment and links to resources. I’m in Ypsi Township, I’ll be contacting the Appropriations Committee and encouraging my neighbors to do the same.
Josh Walinsky
This is a nice propaganda piece that manages to omit the fact that everyone in the community is furious about this, and it will be at the expense of greater Ypsi that U-M gets its shiny new toy. Ypsilanti Township has not been engaged by U-M throughout this process so far and I highly doubt that will change. The university doesn’t want community input because the community does not want this data center and the U intends to build it anyway.
There are excellent points made by other folks commenting here, sharing some of the many reasons this is going to be bad for Ypsi. This data center won’t bring jobs to the community, it will increase utility rates for residents, it will create noise pollution, it will disrupt our wildlife including bald eagles that live at Hydro Park, it will negatively impact property values, it will endanger the community (not to mention the school right there) by conducting nuclear weapons research and putting a target on our homes, and of course this is going to create problems with excessive industrial water usage.
Gee, I wonder why the residents are so upset to have a data center forced onto us against our will by the benevolent University of Michigan?
They are targeting Ypsilanti because they don’t want a data center in Ann Arbor, and that is not surprising. Nobody wants a data center in their backyard; data centers are bad for the communities they go into. Ypsi is an ideal place to build all the infrastructure needed for this project since it is nearby but, most importantly, outside Ann Arbor.
Ryan McCarty
Besides all the excellent points above, I’d mention two important things:
1) The University keeps talking about community engagement, but it’s not really engagement to put up posters to tell people what you’re doing without accepting any feedback from the community. Nothing that happened at the “community engagement” events was going to change one single bit of the University’s plans. They came to tell us what to expect. Period. The fact that they’re starting to be open about the nuclear weapons research LANL will do at the site just shows how certain they are that there’s nothing stopping them. The whole process has been nothing but a gross display of institutional power over under-resourced communities. Shame.
2) The University is also engaging in the worst kind of green-gaslighting with this project. Even if they are correct in their estimations of energy requirements (which we have no reason to believe) the power required to run this project will make the University’s carbon neutrality goals impossible. But they will continue to claim that the University of Michigan is carbon neutral because they are doing this work off-campus. That’s ANOTHER reason they won’t put it in Ann Arbor. There are definitely high-power lines North-East of North Campus, out toward the medical center off 23 and 14. They could build their new substation there. But then they couldn’t spend all their time sending carbon neutrality celebrations to themselves and their donors.
The whole project is a disgrace to the idea of a public university serving the public good. But that’s pretty on-brand at this point.
Nicholas Shipman
They keep saying there isn’t enough space in their precious Ann Arbor for this data center to be built and I will say again, the Arb would be a wonderful place to build it! Plenty of space, access to the Huron river, very close to north campus engineering, and if anything goes wrong while testing nuclear bombs or spying on American citizens, the hospital would be right across the street! Win-win imo
Peter Slutzker
indubitably
Peter Slutzker
Purely a propaganda piece. The amount of money going into this could solve the local housing crisis. Let’s do that instead.
Tovya Dawson
I’ve lived in Ypsilanti my entire life and I’m currently a senior in mechanical engineering at U of M.
The amount of “Climate Surveys” and other climate related emails I’ve been sent since I enrolled here is HILARIOUS. Additionally, almost every mech-e class I’ve taken has always made us consider the effects of certain designs on the climate.
It’s all for PR. All of it is fake. If I ever have the unfortunate opportunity to take a class of Steve’s, I’ll ask him directly in front of every single student why he is choosing my home to destroy.