At a bustling security checkpoint at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, travelers moved swiftly through the line, unaware that an experiment was quietly unfolding in the background. Algorithms designed by Arizona State University students were testing how real-time staffing decisions could reduce delays while keeping the skies safe.
For seven years, this kind of behind-the-scenes innovation was the calling card of the Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency, or CAOE. Established in 2017 as a Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, Center of Excellence, CAOE transformed raw data into tools for decision-makers while training hundreds of students to take on the complex challenges of national security.
Though the center has since concluded its operations, its influence continues in the careers of alumni, the collaborations it forged and the research that remains active across ASU and beyond.
Building a cross-university mission
Led by ASU and joined by a 25-university consortium, CAOE was a hub for tackling problems that cut across the homeland security enterprise. Projects spanned everything from supply chain resilience to data privacy — always balancing urgent operational needs with the broader goal of preparing the next generation of experts.
Ross Maciejewski, director of the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, and Pitu Mirchandani, now a Fulton Schools emeritus professor, co-founded the center. Maciejewski served as its director.
“For students, CAOE wasn’t just a research center,” Maciejewski says. “It was a launchpad for careers in government, industry and academia. We wanted them to graduate with both theoretical depth and the ability to solve real-world problems.”
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