ECE Faculty Member Holds Training Sessions for EcoCAR EV Teams
October 6, 2023
Mississippi State University Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor John Ball is delivering a two-part introduction to lidar for the EcoCAR EV Challenge.
Dr. John Ball (photo by Robby Lozano / © Mississippi State University)
The first of the lidar sessions was held in September, and the second one is this month. The lidar training covers lidar basics and lidar data processing, as well as gives students example objects scanned by the lidar to try and identify and isolate these items in software.
Ball, who holds the Robert D. Guyton Teaching Endowed Chair in the department, is the lead faculty advisor for the Mississippi State EcoCAR EV Challenge team and teaches classes involving lidar processing (as well as radar and camera).
The EV Challenge is a four-year collegiate competition involving 13 North American and two Canadian universities with the headline sponsors of the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors, and MathWorks. The MSU EcoCAR team seeks to provide students with hands-on experience by creating a diverse environment promoting excellence and integrity as they prepare for the workforce. Mississippi State has been involved in the AVTC (Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition) since Challenge X in 2004 and continues to provide students with valuable opportunities through industry-level experience.
More information on the EcoCAR EV Challenge may be found on its website. For more about more information on Dr. Ball’s research and areas of interests, visit here.
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Mississippi State University consists of 27 faculty members (including seven endowed professors), seven professional staff, and over 700 undergraduate and graduate students, with approximately 100 being at the Ph.D. level. With a research expenditure of over $14.24 million, the department houses the largest High Voltage Laboratory among North American universities.