INSTAR Lab - Applied Research
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
Applied R&D at the frontier of scientific discovery
HOW WE ADVANCE SCIENCE
INSTAR Lab is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit research institute headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. We advance science through the INSTAR Consortium — five specialized partners combining rigorous methodology with applied research across AI, quantum science, energy, health, and the broad sciences.
Research
Principal investigators and postdoctoral fellows conduct applied R&D across AI, quantum, data analytics, health, energy, and the full sciences — advancing knowledge with rigor and real-world relevance.
Learn MoreTransfer
Through STTR partnerships and enterprise engagements, INSTAR Lab moves research from bench to production — bridging the gap between fundamental discovery and deployed technology across multiple sectors.
Learn MoreCollaborate
We partner with universities, government agencies, and enterprises to accelerate discovery through joint research programs, shared methodologies, and the INSTAR Consortium network.
Learn MoreOUR RESEARCH
An independent 501(c)(3) research institute advancing science across AI, health, energy, quantum, HPC, space, and the broad sciences.
Explore our research areas and technical capabilities below.
Quantum Systems
Research into quantum computation and sensing — pushing toward practical advantage in problems classical systems struggle to solve.
Explore this research →Health AI
Applying AI to medicine and clinical science to improve patient safety, accelerate discovery, and support better outcomes — with rigorous, human-overseen evaluation.
Explore this research →NLP Analytics
Turning unstructured text and language into structured, actionable knowledge through advanced natural-language research.
Explore this research →Energy Research
Advancing the science of energy generation, storage, and efficiency to support a sustainable and resilient future.
Explore this research →Data Science
Extracting insight from complex, high-dimensional data — the analytical backbone connecting every INSTAR research domain.
Explore this research →HPC Simulation
High-performance computing and large-scale simulation that let researchers model, predict, and explore systems too complex for the lab alone.
Explore this research →AI Platforms
Building the machine-intelligence foundations — models, agents, and platforms — that power applied research across the institute.
Explore this research →Lab Systems
The infrastructure, instruments, and computing facilities that turn ambitious research questions into reproducible results.
Explore this research →Annual Research Summit
INSTAR LAB CONSORTIUM 2026
OUR LEADERSHIP
INSTAR Lab is led by experienced scientists, engineers, and researchers whose work spans applied AI, physics, and technology transfer. Our leadership team brings decades of production research, federal R&D, and scientific governance to every program we run.
Suzanne Conejos, M.Sc.
AI Lead Scientist · Board Member
Sean Hackney
Board Member · AI Researcher
Dr. Spoogmay Khan
Applied Scientist · Materials Physics
Maha Khan
Research Scientist
WHAT PEOPLE SAYS
The Consortium Postdoctoral Research Fellowship gave me a structured research environment, genuine mentorship, and the freedom to pursue hard problems across disciplines.
Consortium Fellow
Sciences
INSTAR Lab operates with the rigor of a university research center and the pragmatism of an applied technology organization — a rare and productive combination.
Research Collaborator
AI & ML
The INSTAR Consortium model brings together complementary methodologies — R&D prioritization, technology readiness, and creative problem-solving — under one research mission.
Consortium Partner
Quantum
LATEST FROM LABS
Technical briefs, STTR highlights, and research updates from INSTAR Lab
and the INSTAR Consortium — published as work matures.
Quantum sensing breakthroughs
New approaches to qubit coherence and quantum error correction are enabling practical advances in sensing and computation.
Read More...
HPC infrastructure for AI
GPU-accelerated clusters and distributed compute architectures are reshaping how researchers train models and run simulations.
Read More...
Clinical AI safety research
Examining how artificial intelligence can improve patient safety, clinical workflows, and healthcare outcomes at national scale.
Read More...OUR PARTNERS
For Researchers
Join the INSTAR Fellowship
The Consortium Postdoctoral Research Fellowship is a 12-month supervised appointment across the INSTAR Consortium — structured mentorship, interdisciplinary scope, and the freedom to pursue hard problems.