News and Events

In support of the HBCU Transformation Summit held on June 11-12, 2024 on its first time being hosted at an HBCU campus, the CR2C2 team hosted approximately 60 guests, including leaders from the other 16 Transformation Project member schools, Thurgood Marshall College Fund representatives, and other invitees to close out the Summit with a highly engaging and hands-on experience. 

Led by the external Transformation Project partner, the Partnership for Education Advancement (Ed Adv) www.hbcutransformation.org, the Summit provided an opportunity for attendees to discuss transformation initiatives focused on student enrollment, student success, promoting university operational efficiency, innovative research, and sustainability. 

After being greeted and briefed by Dr. Kelly, Interim Head of the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, the guests were guided through a tour that highlighted some of the research by CR2C2 team carried out in the Harold Martin Sr. Engineering and Research Innovation Complex building. The tour included four stops.  

At the ACCESS Lab, Ph.D. candidate William Gray delivered an all-encompassing presentation on the research efforts which include AV and UAV projects. The guests were able to get a glimpse of what the projects entail, the rigorous research process followed by our researchers, and how it may translate into pilot programs such as the Aggie Auto pilot program deployed in October 2023. 

Continuing with the tour, a postdoctoral research researcher Dr. Jose Matute and a Ph.D. candidate Tienake Phuapaiboon demonstrated the technology developed in-house to adapt our fleet of vehciles to operate autonomously. A Chrysler Pacifica, part of our six-vehicle connected autonomous fleet served as the display to showcase the hardware and software that have been added by the researchers enabling the vehicle's autonomous operation. 

Furthermore, the guests were briefed by our graduate students Azmol Fuad and Sita Martha on our in-the-loop driving simulator, which some of the guests were able to experience first-hand by immersing themselves in the environments developed by our team. Attendees also learned about and witnessed one of the Urban Air Mobility Simulations which is part of Ph.D. candidate Negasa Cherena.