This summer, the Army Research Laboratory VTD Vehicle Applied Research Division visited Discovery Park to discuss opportunities for joint research with the College of Engineering. The two teams dove deep into topics related to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, and areas where UNT Engineering faculty could provide research expertise and ARL members could provide guidance.

“The two-day event was a really stimulating experience as it allowed for a great exchange of ideas and discussion around the future of UAS and what it means for both the army and society as a whole,” said Andrey Voevodin, chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The visit also included tours of the college’s labs and research facilities, including the Materials Research Facility, Additive Manufacturing Lab, and other labs focused on UAS communications, sensors, computing and circuit design.

The team of UNT students from the Departments of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering and Engineering Technology demonstrated UAS prototypes they built per drawings provided by army engineers and discussed their modifications. These ideas created the cornerstone for a joint project initiation under the Cooperative Research and Developing Agreement, which UNT has had with ARL since 2015.

This visit comes as part of a rapidly growing partnership with the Army Research Laboratory within the Army Open Campus concept aimed at connecting ARL research needs with university researchers. Shannon Strank, deputy chief of ARL Open Campus South, also attended the event.

Members from the College of Engineering involved in this visit included Kamesh Namuduri, Hector Siller, Hamid Sadat, Diana Berman, Xinrong Li, Haifeng Zhang, Gayatri Mehta, Nandika D'Souza and Andrey Voevodin.