MSU Engineering highlighted by Air Force Research Laboratory program

November 11, 2016

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State University’s record of engineering excellence received several mentions in a recent newsletter published by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

Compiled of recent news pertaining to AFRL’s Minority Leaders Research Collaboration Program, the report highlighted the Bagley College of Engineering’s participation in a AFRL mentoring program, student internships and a summer visit made by AFRL distinguished guests to the MSU campus.

In May, MSU welcomed five Air Force Research Laboratory representatives to campus. The visit included tours of MSU’s high performance computing facilities and the Human Performance lab at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, as well as demonstrations and research overviews from professors across Bagley’s eight engineering concentrations.

“We were pleased to host these technical exchanges and discuss the broad reach of MSU research into these areas of cybersecurity, sensor processing, robotics and human performance,” said John Ball, who serves as the lab director for both MSU’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Sensor Lab and MSU’s Simrall Radar Laboratory.

The AFRL Minority Leaders in Research Collaboration mentoring program paired Mississippi State University with Jackson State University. The two institutions submitted a joint proposal for UAV and radar signal processing work and collaborated on research efforts to develop a long-term engineering relationship. MSU also hosted two JSU students for 10-week internships as a result of the AFRL mentorship program.

Three Bagley students also received personal merit from the AFRL Minority Leaders in Research Collaboration Program. Seniors Tori Robinson, Kela McFarland and Timothy Brown were 3 of 10 students chosen to fulfill summer internships with AFRL in Dayton, Ohio. All three had opportunities to work with the Sensors Directorate, each in a different capacity. Robinson, a computer science student, specialized in the radio frequency warfare branch. McFarland, a software engineering student, developed software driven radar, while Brown, an electrical engineering student, researched and developed electronic warfare capabilities.

The Air Force Research Laboratory leads the way in discovering, developing and integrating cost-effective warfighting technologies for the air, space and cyberspace forces that defend the United States. For more information on AFRL, visit http://www.wpafb.af.mil/afrl.

The Bagley College of Engineering is online at bagley.msstate.edu. You can also follow us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram by searching for @msuengineering.

By: Amanda Meeler