REU Site: Smart Cities - Advancing Mobility

This three-year renewal Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site: Smart Cities – Advancing Mobility is hosted by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Ten undergraduate researchers each year will develop, engineer, and evaluate technologies to improve and advance mobility for use in Smart Cities. Through this technology – intelligent transportation systems (ITS), connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs), and vehicle-to-everything communication (V2X) participants will learn about the impacts of this research on society.

Students will develop discipline specific knowledge, computer programming skills, and machine learning/artificial intelligence experience through hands-on research activities. REU students will engage in professional development, training sessions, and professional seminars from mobility experts in academia, industry, and government. Participants engaged in these projects in advanced mobility will learn about the impacts on economic growth, public sector efficiency, and improves quality of life through expanded accessibility, energy efficiency, and public safety.

This three-year renewal Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site: Smart Cities – Advancing Mobility is hosted by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Ten undergraduate researchers each year will develop, engineer, and evaluate technologies to improve and advance mobility for use in Smart Cities. Students with engineering backgrounds (such as electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, and civil engineering) will take part in hands-on research to address technological challenges in ITS, CAV, and C-V2X with the use of public transportation data and machine learning/artificial intelligence.

ITS projects feature traffic flow prediction during events using GPS telematics, IoT systems for smart parking optimization, modeling and optimizing green energy systems. CAV projects feature infrastructure sensor support of CAV control, real-time transmission line inspection with unmanned aerial systems, cooperative simultaneous localization and mapping.

V2X projects include software defined radio for CAV sensor communication and dual-mode DSRC/C-V2X display for eco-driving. REU students will engage in professional development, training sessions, and professional seminars from mobility experts in academia, industry, and government. Participants engaged in these projects in advanced mobility will learn about the impacts on economic growth, public sector efficiency, and improves quality of life through expanded accessibility, energy efficiency, and public safety.

This project is jointly funded by the EEC REU and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCOR).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.