Professors Xinming Huang, Raghvendra Cowlagi, Yehia Massoud, Xiangnan Kong, and William Michalson Receive NSF Award

Professors Xinming Huang, Raghvendra Cowlagi, Yehia Massoud, Xiangnan Kong, and William Michalson Receive NSF Award

Congratulations to WPI Electrical and Computer Engineering Professors Xinming Huang, Yehia Massoud, William Michalson; Mechanical Engineering Professor Raghvendra Cowlagi; and Computer Science Professor Xiangnan for their NSF Award entitled:  MRI:  Development of an autonomous, connected and data-drive vehicle for multi-disciplinary research and project-based learning.  In this project the PIs propose to develop the first connected and autonomous vehicle at WPI that will enable faculty research and student learning across multiple disciplines related to autonomous driving in the future. Comparingt o other universities who have built autonomous vehicles for the DARPA Grand Challenge program several years ago, this project emphasizes three new properties. The first is connected vehicle. Future cars are equipped with wireless devices that can communicate with peer vehicles and road infrastructure. The second is data-driven. Big data has become a major driving force behind academic research and scientific explorations. The proposed autonomous vehicle will collect a large amount of data from roads, vehicles, drivers, etc.  This data will provide for a rich resource that can potentially advance research on fields related to connected and autonomous vehicles. Finally, it will be an ultimate tool for WPI faculty to develop curriculum for “project-based learning”. It will enhance student learning experience through many projects centered on the proposed autonomous vehicle and will undoubtedly attract the younger generation to the STEM field.