For Thursday 02/06/25, the campus will be closed until 12 noon today due to the severe weather. All classes scheduled after 12 noon will take place as scheduled. Students should check Canvas for details on classes.
SOUTHFIELD—The small electric cars motoring around a Lawrence Technological University parking lot Wednesday had no drivers. Instead they were using software developed by eight students from all over the United States who are studying at LTU under a National Science Foundation grant.
The three-year, $281,712 grant under the NSF’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program has the students working on self-driving car algorithms with C.J. Chung, professor of computer science at LTU and principal investigator on the grant. New cohorts of eight students will spend the summers of 2023 and 2024 at LTU as well.
The students programmed computers controlling two Polaris GEM electric city cars, acquired by LTU through sponsorships sought out by Chung. The cars retail for $12,000, but Chung said that once they’re outfitted with a variety of sensors, computers, and drive-by-wire systems, their actual cost is more like $60,000.
Chung said the program “is a unique, probably unprecedented opportunity offered to undergraduate students to focus on the development of algorithms used in autonomous vehicles, using real vehicles on real roads for testing.”
The students’ test was also recorded by Troy Hale, a journalism professor at Michigan State University. Hale is a veteran documentary filmmaker and TV journalist who has won 32 Emmy Awards.
The eight students in the first cohort, selected through a competitive process, were:
Lawrence Technological University is one of only 13 private, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the United States. Located in Southfield, Mich., LTU was founded in 1932, and offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, and Engineering. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 11 percent of universities for alumni salaries. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank LTU among the nation’s top 10 percent. U.S. News and World Report lists it in the top tier of best in the Midwest colleges. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 107-acre campus include over 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.
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