LSU Engineering Gets Louisiana Prepared for Digital Transformation at Work

Artificial intelligence is reshaping business. According to the 2025 Work Trend Annual Index Report, a global survey of 31,000 business leaders conducted by Microsoft and LinkedIn, 81% said they expect AI agents to be moderately or extensively incorporated into their company strategy in the next 12-18 months.

At the same time, digital twin technology is retooling work in construction, manufacturing, and energy – industries essential to Louisiana’s economy. Digital twins are virtual, real-time replicas of physical objects, systems, or processes that update continuously as conditions change. Workers use digital twins to simulate performance, improve safety, and reduce costs across real-world applications.

“AI and digital twin technologies are transformational,” said LSU Engineering Dean Vicki Colvin. “Our students - and our state - need to be prepared to build them, test them, use them, and improve them in order to stay competitive.”

LSU’s College of Engineering is filling the need by creating courses, certificates, and degrees in AI and digital twin. Engineering faculty have produced an array of educational offerings designed to skill up the state, including:

• A new digital twin certificate - the first of its kind in the U.S., co-developed by academic and industry experts. In seven online courses, professionals can get comprehensive, real-world experience in digital twin technology increasingly used in sectors ranging from architecture to manufacturing to healthcare.
• A new bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence - the first in Louisiana. The degree will go before the state Board of Regents for approval this spring, and if it gets the green light, it could be offered to undergraduates as early as spring 2027.
• A new online master’s degree in computer science with an AI track. To earn the degree, students take courses in topics that include foundational AI, machine learning, reinforcement learning, and robotics. Already, 19 students have enrolled, many of them working professionals.
• An undergraduate capstone-style computer science course that brings students together with industry professionals to create AI applications to solve real-world business problems submitted by industry sponsors. At the end of the course, student teams present their solutions at a formal event at Tiger Stadium.

The engine driving much of this innovation is LSU’s Division of Computer Science and Engineering, led by Ibrahim Baggili, PhD, division chair and Roger Richardson Professor.

“We’ve been working hard and fast to create new offerings,” Baggili said. “AI is transforming how we work and learn, and we have a responsibility to Louisiana and the region to get residents ready to use it effectively and ethically. Digital twin is another powerful tool that we need to prepare the workforce to use now and in the future.”

Many of these new academic offerings are a product of collaboration across the LSU campus and in the Baton Rouge business community.

The Digital Twin Design and Production Certificate is the result of a partnership between LSU’s College of Engineering, LSU Online, the Baton Rouge consultancy DigiTwin Global, and the engineering software firm Bentley Systems.

The AI capstone course, Computer Science 4700 | Honors 3025, is also a team effort. Teams are led by a student enrolled in LSU’s E.J. Ourso School of Business or its Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College. Those team leaders manage a group of College of Engineering computer science students.

Together, student teams solve a workplace challenge submitted by an industry sponsor. Past sponsors have included major Louisiana companies like BASF, Entergy, Our Lady of the Lake, and Performance Contractors.

LSU senior Valerio Luftig took Computer Science 4700 in fall 2025 and raved.

“Every other class is living in theory,” Luftig said. “In this class, I got to live in the real world, with real AI challenges faced in real businesses. Great experience!”

Students say the course is equivalent to an internship due to the high concentration of industry exposure, hard work, and high expectations.

“You’re learning to code in the class and taking on real problems,” said Skyler Dowling, a recent LSU computer science alum. “The homework was unbelievably hard, but you actually learn something. This course was fantastic and we need more of it. It’s great to LSU stepping up their game in AI and making this investment.”

LSU Engineering’s computer science faculty are currently creating a dual enrollment course, AI Essentials, aimed at Louisiana high school students who want to earn college credits through LSU while learning how AI systems are built, how they work, and how to evaluate their use. The course, which will be available to high school students in fall 2026, is a collaboration with LSU’s Gordon A. Cain Center for STEM Literacy.

“A lot of places are jumping on the AI hype and are just data science courses in disguise,” Baggili said. “What we’re trying to do at LSU is to help students not only understand how AI systems are built and how they work - but show them how to build them rigorously and how to evaluate them critically. We want to build the AI engineer of the future.”