innovation

Georgia Tech Leads the Way in AI Literacy with OpenAI Academy Collaboration

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 13:03:39 +0000

Georgia Tech Leads the Way in AI Literacy with OpenAI Academy Collaboration admin Thu, 03/27/2025 - 09:03

The demand for AI education is clear, and Georgia Tech, along with the new OpenAI Academy, is poised to meet this need by offering opportunities and resources to advance public knowledge in this emerging field.

This exciting new partnership between Georgia Tech and the OpenAI Academy is aimed at advancing AI education. This collaboration is part of the academy's initiative to create a publicly available, free online resource hub designed to support AI literacy and provide access to essential tools, best practices, and peer insights for effective and responsible AI use.

The OpenAI Academy, which initially focused on in-person programs for developers and technical users, is now expanding its reach to a broader community. This includes educators, students, and small business owners. The goal is to unlock new opportunities for learning, economic mobility, growth, and innovation by empowering more people to confidently use AI.

The new online hub will feature an expanding library of on-demand content, including educational materials created by partners like Common Sense Media. In the coming months, the academy will continue to grow its offerings, adding new resources and in-person AI literacy workshops. These workshops will be hosted in collaboration with higher education institutions such as Georgia Tech and Miami Dade College.

As part of Tech AI Fest 2025, Georgia Tech hosted an AI literacy workshop Tuesday, March 25. This event was Georgia Tech’s premier AI gathering, bringing together researchers, industry professionals, policymakers, and students for discussions on the latest advancements in artificial intelligence. The workshop, held at the East Architecture Building, provided hands-on learning experiences and showcased the practical applications of AI in various fields.

The partnership between Georgia Tech and OpenAI Academy underscores Tech's commitment to advancing AI education and ensuring that AI literacy is accessible to everyone. By participating in this initiative, the Institute aims to provide learners with the confidence and skills needed to thrive in an AI-powered economy, ultimately benefiting local communities and fostering innovation.

Summary sentence

New OpenAI Academy at Georgia Tech offers education and resources to advance public knowledge in one of the top fields globally.

Summary

Georgia Tech has teamed up with OpenAI Academy to transform AI literacy through an innovative online resource hub and dynamic hands-on workshops. This pioneering initiative aims to democratize AI education, reaching a diverse audience that includes educators, students, job-seekers, and nonprofit leaders. The collaboration kicks off with an exciting AI literacy workshop at Tech AI Fest 2025, where participants will engage in practical learning experiences and explore cutting-edge AI applications. By making AI education accessible and empowering individuals to thrive in an AI-driven economy, Georgia Tech is leading the charge in shaping the future of technology and innovation.

Dateline

Thu, 03/27/2025 - 12:00

media@gatech.edu

Contact

Georgia Tech Media Relations

Institute Communications

Keywords

OpenAI Academy

Georgia Tech

AI literacy

AI education

Tech AI Fest 2025

online resource hub

Workshops

hands-on learning

innovation

economic mobility

community learning

Educators

students

job-seekers

nonprofit leaders

small business owners

AI-powered economy

partnership

expanding library

on-demand content

News room topics

Business and Economic Development

Campus and Community

Science and Technology

Categories

Business

Community

Education

Institute and Campus

Research

Mercury ID

681407

Source updated

Thu, 03/27/2025 - 09:03

Georgia Tech Leads the Way in AI Literacy with OpenAI Academy Collaboration

admin — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 01:05:41 +0000

Georgia Tech Leads the Way in AI Literacy with OpenAI Academy Collaboration admin Tue, 03/25/2025 - 21:05

This exciting new partnership between Georgia Tech and the OpenAI Academy is aimed at advancing AI education. This collaboration is part of the academy's initiative to create a publicly available, free online resource hub designed to support AI literacy and provide access to essential tools, best practices, and peer insights for effective and responsible AI use.

As part of Tech AI Fest 2025, Georgia Tech hosted an AI literacy workshop Tuesday, March 25. This event was Georgia Tech’s premier AI gathering, bringing together researchers, industry professionals, policymakers, and students for discussions on the latest advancements in artificial intelligence. The workshop, held at the East Architecture Building, provided hands-on learning experiences and showcased the practical applications of AI in various fields.

Summary sentence

New OpenAI Academy at Georgia Tech offers education and resources to advance public knowledge in one of the top fields globally.

Summary

Dateline

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 12:00

media@gatech.edu

Contact

Georgia Tech Media Relations

Institute Communications

Keywords

Georgia Tech

OpenAI Academy

AI literacy

AI education

Tech AI Fest 2025

online resource hub

Workshops

hands-on learning

innovation

economic mobility

community learning

Educators

students

job-seekers

nonprofit leaders

small business owners

AI-powered economy

partnership

expanding library

on-demand content

News room topics

Business and Economic Development

Campus and Community

Science and Technology

Categories

Business

Education

Institute and Campus

Mercury ID

681368

Source updated

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 21:04

Leading the Charge in Additive Manufacturing: Team Convexity

dgivens8 — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 18:02:47 +0000

Leading the Charge in Additive Manufacturing: Team Convexity dgivens8 Mon, 03/03/2025 - 13:02

On April 21 at 5 p.m. in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building Atrium, dozens of teams will present prototypes at the Spring 2025 Idea to Prototype (I2P) Showcase. They will be vying for a chance to get a golden ticket in CREATE-X’s Startup Launch program, which gives participants $5,000 in optional seed funding and $150,000 in in-kind services like accounting and legal services, mentorship, and entrepreneurial education, among other benefits.

The I2P course, where these students develop their prototypes, offers research credit for undergraduate students up to $500 in reimbursement for physical material expenses and faculty mentorship. It’s open three times a year, in the spring, summer, and fall. Both undergraduate and graduate students can take the course, and students can take it up two times.

Convexity Electronics finished in second place at the Fall 2024 I2P Showcase. The company delivers smaller, faster, and more cost-effective circuit boards compared to traditional lithography-based methods. We delved into the team’s journey, challenges, and aspirations in this exclusive Q&A with one of its founders, Calla Scotch.

Q&A with Team Convexity's Calla Scotch

Team Members:

Calla Scotch, Sophomore, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering

Atharva Lele, Sophomore, Engineering

Anuj Pandey, Junior, Mechanical Engineering

Why did you pursue your startup?

It’s so complex. There are so many routes, and it's so new in terms of how many people are working on it. One day I woke up and couldn't stop thinking about it, then I couldn't sleep about it, and then I couldn't stop working on it. It was one of those things where I couldn't stop.

Traditionally, circuit boards — the stuff that's in your phones, computers, cameras, cars, everything — are made entirely subtractively. You have your block of material and cut away the stuff you don't want. It's a well-thought-out manufacturing process, but it's mostly very expensive and very slow. The materials and electronics manufacturing industry hasn't changed in about 30 years because it's been optimized as much as it can be.

What is your goal with Convexity?

To take that subtractive process and, instead of doing that, build the same circuits additively. I'm working on 3D printing the insulative base material, then 3D printing the conductive material, then using an electrical process to take those conductive materials and convert them into copper. And then doing layer after layer after layer to make the same circuits that someone in a subtractive process would do.

If you have traditional manufacturing, it takes about two weeks to ship from China, and it takes about a week to make a lab. My goal would be to make them in about five hours and then courier them over the same day. You don't need a big serial manufacturing facility if someone needs 6,000 boards. You don't have 6,000 printers in one room; all your printers are connected to the cloud. You could even go from 2D electronics to three-dimensional electronics. We just want to make more, smaller, faster, and cheaper than traditional manufacturing.

What surprised you about I2P?
How much time it took out of my day and how much I didn't want to do as much homework anymore. It made me want to focus all of my time on this and on how many different avenues there were to do what I wanted to do. I probably went through 30 different iterations of completely different scientific topics. I think because of how many options there were and how crazy scientifically advanced each of them was, it is what keeps me going.

What was your favorite part about I2P?

I did I2P for two semesters, and the best thing about it is getting to work on your own project and your own research for class credit.

What was challenging about building your prototype over the semester?

Sifting through all the research and development that has gone into this field. Electronics manufacturing has been around for a long time, and there's a lot of research and patents to work through and build on. I feel like I spent half my time coming up with ideas and the other half building the physical printer.

What would you say to students who are interested in entrepreneurship?
I can't tell you how much I've learned just by doing. Outside of that, talk to people. Just go out and talk to people. Ask people questions. Have your problem and get their input and insight on it, because how we make smart decisions and make startups that people want is by asking people what they want.

Cheer on Convexity as they pitch their prototype at the final round of the InVenture Prize, on March 12, at 7:30p.m., in the Ferst Theater of Arts. During this competition, the largest of its kind in the nation, a panel of celebrity judges and experts in science, technology, and venture capital will judge undergraduate teams competing for $35,000, including $5,000 for the People’s Choice award. Through audience voting, you get to advance the projects you support. Request your free InVenture Prize tickets today.

Want to be part of the next wave of technological advancements? Register for the Spring 2025 I2P Showcase to see our latest cohort of I2P inventors and their prototypes. Consider joining I2P for Summer or Fall 2025. For more information, visit the I2P program website.

Summary sentence

Convexity finished second in the Fall 2024 I2P Showcase and will now compete in the InVenture Prize for a chance to win $35,000.

Summary

Convexity Electronics, founded by Georgia Tech students Calla Scotch, Atharva Lele, and Anuj Pandey, aims to revolutionize circuit board manufacturing by using additive processes instead of traditional subtractive methods. Their approach involves 3D printing insulative and conductive materials to create faster, smaller, and more cost-effective circuit boards. The team has faced challenges in research and development but remains driven by their passion for innovation. Convexity finished second in the Fall 2024 I2P Showcase and will compete in the InVenture Prize for a chance to win $35,000.

Dateline

Mon, 03/03/2025 - 12:00

breanna.durham@gatech.edu

Contact

Breanna Durham

Marketing Strategist

Keywords

I2P Showcase

CREATE-X

startup launch

prototypes

entrepreneurial education

research credit

Convexity Electronics

InVenture Prize

innovation

startup

Competition

entrepreneurship

prototype development

go-commercializationnews

Categories

Business

Computer Science/Information Technology and Security

Student and Faculty

Student Competition WInners (academic, innovation, and research)

Mercury ID

680848

Source updated

Mon, 03/03/2025 - 13:02

CREATE-X: A Decade of Success

dgivens8 — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 17:32:37 +0000

CREATE-X: A Decade of Success dgivens8 Mon, 06/10/2024 - 13:32

“People often say entrepreneurs are born, not made,” said Rahul Saxena, ME 1997, director of Georgia Tech’s CREATE-X program. “But we are showing that you can make them.”

CREATE-X, Georgia Tech’s initiative to promote entrepreneurial confidence in students and empower them to launch successful startups, celebrates 10 years of success this year. The mission of CREATE-X is to provide students with resources, coaching, and funding so that they develop the entrepreneurial confidence — the boldness — necessary to create real-world impact. Beginning with a cohort of 12 startup teams in the 2014-15 academic year, CREATE-X now produces more than 100 student-led ventures each year.

“Philanthropy has been the underpinning upon which CREATE-X was built, and it would not have been successful otherwise,” said Steve McLaughlin, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs and CREATE-X co-founder. “CREATE-X is itself a startup, and we always said it should have to raise money and prove its value, just like the companies that come through the program.”

In the decade since its launch, CREATE-X has more than proven its value. To date, more than 17,000 students from across 38 majors have participated, and their companies have exceeded $2 billion in total valuation.

The idea for CREATE-X arose from a question posed to McLaughlin by a student team that had just won the InVenture Prize, Georgia Tech’s innovation competition: “What do we do next?”

McLaughlin realized that while Tech armed students with an exceptional education, it had not provided the infrastructure necessary for students to take their ideas to the marketplace.

According to CREATE-X co-founder and former director Raghupathy “Siva” Sivakumar, who now serves as Georgia Tech’s vice president of Commercialization, “The original vision was to enable our students to create their own jobs and create their own futures.” To that end, Sivakumar and McLaughlin along with others, including fellow faculty at the time Ray Vito and Ravi Bellamkonda, piloted a program in 2014 that laid the foundation for what was to become CREATE-X. Startup Summer, as it was then called, saw eight student teams launch their startups.

Startup Summer served as proof of concept, but it needed funding to take it to the next level. Tech entrepreneur and philanthropist Chris Klaus, Class of 1996, made a significant investment after seeing the fruits of the pilot project, the start of several gifts to the program.

Klaus was the first of several generous donors. “CREATE-X would not have been born without Chris Klaus’ original contribution,” Sivakumar said, “and it wouldn’t have gotten to the scale it is right now without Bernie Marcus.” The Marcus Foundation, Sivakumar noted, has directed essential funding to sustain and expand the program.

In addition to financial support, CREATE-X needed to bring on additional faculty to meet the growing demand for its sequence of courses. After conversations with McLaughlin about the vision for CREATE-X, James G. “Jim” Pope, EE 1965, and his wife Dee established the Pope Faculty Fellows initiative to support four early-career professors to teach and mentor the program’s budding entrepreneurs. After an initial outright commitment in 2019, the couple permanently endowed the faculty fellows the following year and increased the number of fellows to six.

For the Popes, it was the institutional alignment that convinced them to support CREATE-X. “Significant change does not happen without serious leadership at the top, and everyone at Georgia Tech, from the top down, was committed to making entrepreneurship a priority going forward,” said Jim.

But as some student-led companies began demonstrating early success and attracting venture capital, Michael E. Tennenbaum, IE 1958, HON Ph.D. 2016, sought a way to help the founders maintain their upward trajectory. In 2022 and in collaboration with the Georgia Tech Foundation, Tennenbaum established the Tennenbaum Family Investment Fund to invest in promising CREATE-X startups. After recouping its initial outlay, all earnings are deposited into the fund to support even more startups. The fund is a mechanism to help perpetuate the entrepreneurial ecosystem at Tech and Atlanta more broadly.

“We are now starting to see this ripple effect of Georgia Tech startups inspiring and helping other ventures succeed,” said Seth Radman, ME 2017. Since participating in CREATE-X, Radman has founded four startups and sold two of his companies. He has remained engaged with the program by coaching current students. “A lot of Atlanta startups have Georgia Tech connections somewhere. And we are beginning to see angel investments coming in from Georgia Tech founders. I have even written a few checks myself.”

For Klaus, one of the joys of supporting CREATE-X over the last decade is watching the network of Yellow Jacket entrepreneurs grow. “We are reproducing this every day with more and more founders and building a huge community of CREATE-X alums,” he said. “That piece is the multiplier. It begins to compound.”

A few of the notable startups that have come out of the program include supply chain logistics company Stord; habit-change app Reframe; online, project-based high school Sora; digital business card startup dot.card; and maker of automated beverage dispensing technology Sidework.

Another long-term success story is FIXD, the thriving auto diagnostic company that was launched by three Tech undergraduates from CREATE-X’s very first cohort. “CREATE-X is an amazing pipeline for the Atlanta tech ecosystem, not just because of the startups it helps launch but also because of the entrepreneurial talent it generates,” said John Gattuso, ME 2015, FIXD co-founder and CEO. “We have hired multiple CREATE-X founders, and they are some of our most valuable employees.”

Saxena, who came on board as an associate director in 2019 before taking the helm as director in 2023, sees the effects of the program beyond Atlanta. “Georgia Tech was already a top school, and it is increasingly getting national attention for the volume of students graduating with entrepreneurial experience,” he said.

With its rapid growth and success, CREATE-X is ahead of schedule. “Our original goal was to be the No. 1 startup campus in America by 2027,” Sivakumar said, “and in terms of the number of startups launched by students, we are already No. 1.” And other universities across the nation are taking note.

“CREATE-X is awakening the spirit of entrepreneurship in our younger generation at Georgia Tech,” said Bernie Marcus. “The Marcus Foundation is proud to support CREATE-X to grow and inspire a revolution of entrepreneurship on campuses across the country.”

“We are living in the best time ever to be in technology,” Klaus said. For Georgia Tech students, Klaus advises, “Go spend one summer betting on yourself. It’s probably the best bet you can ever make.”

John Lanza, EE 1987, M.S. EE 1988, a partner at the law firm Foley Hoag, has provided pro bono legal counsel to student founders since the launch of CREATE-X. He sees the program as a watershed moment in the Institute’s history. “People are going to look back at CREATE-X and say that this program was part of a transformation that propelled Georgia Tech to change the world.”

To make a gift to CREATE-X, contact Executive Director of Campaign Operations and Institute Strategic Priorities Meagan Burton-Krieger.

Subtitle

Summary sentence

Georgia Tech's CREATE-X program, bolstered by generous philanthropic support, celebrates 10 years of building entrepreneurial confidence in students.

Summary

Georgia Tech's innovative CREATE-X program celebrates 10 years of building entrepreneurial confidence in students. CREATE-X has grown from a cohort of 12 student-led startups to more than 100 each year and over $2B in total valuation, making Georgia Tech one of the top entrepreneurial campuses in the country. And at every step along the way, generous philanthropical support helped make the program a success.

Dateline

Mon, 06/10/2024 - 12:00

justin.horton@dev.gatech.edu

Keywords

CREATE-X

gt-commercialization

innovation

alumni entrepreneurs

alumni philanthropy

philanthropy

Philanthropy at Tech

billionaire philanthropy

Campaign

CREATE-X; startups; entrepreneurship; business; exhibition; showcase; tech

Categories

Alumni

Campaign Stories

Institute and Campus

Student and Faculty

Student Competition WInners (academic, innovation, and research)

Mercury ID

675072

Source updated

Mon, 06/10/2024 - 13:31

Student Startup Wins $50K With ADHD Tool

dgivens8 — Tue, 28 May 2024 16:40:41 +0000

Student Startup Wins $50K With ADHD Tool dgivens8 Tue, 05/28/2024 - 12:40

Subtitle

Summary sentence

Georgia Tech computer science (CS) major Aaliya Jakir and her team advance to the next level of a global competition with their startup prototype, Roadmap.

Summary

Roadmap assists individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in task initiation and management and has propelled the team to the 2024 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship finals. They emerged from the semifinals as one of the top three finalists, securing a $50,000 prize.

To read the full article click HERE

Dateline

Tue, 05/28/2024 - 12:00

Associated importer

Keywords

innovation

startup

Categories

Computer Science/Information Technology and Security

Student Competition WInners (academic, innovation, and research)

Mercury ID

674909

Source updated

Tue, 05/28/2024 - 12:39

GTRI’s Stefan Abi-Karam Receives Esteemed FPL Community Award

dgivens8 — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 14:56:41 +0000

GTRI’s Stefan Abi-Karam Receives Esteemed FPL Community Award dgivens8 Fri, 03/22/2024 - 10:56

Stefan Abi-Karam, a member of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and a Ph.D student in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, has been honored with the prestigious FPL Community Award at the 33rd International Conference on Field-Programmable Logic and Applications (FPL 2023) in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Abi-Karam, a Research Engineer I in GTRI's Cybersecurity, Information Protection, and Hardware Evaluation Research (CIPHER) Laboratory, was recognized for his paper titled "GNNBuilder: An Automated Framework for Generic Graph Neural Network Accelerator Generation, Simulation, and Optimization." The paper explores the intersection of hardware acceleration and applied deep learning, and delves into areas such as electronic design automation (EDA), FPGA architecture, and VLSI algorithms.

The FPL Community Award recognizes significant research contributions within the field-programmable logic community. It is awarded based on the impact and potential long-term benefits of open-source research, as assessed by peer reviewers during the conference.

Said Stefan, "I am really happy that there is community recognition for open-source academic hardware research, as this is still not the norm, or the open-source aspect is not seen as valuable in many academic research projects."

Abi-Karam's work, conducted in collaboration with Prof. Cong Hao of Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), stands out for its focus on the pragmatic aspects of engineering, automation, and co-design of high-level-synthesis-based hardware accelerators for computing graph neural networks. Stefan also received his bachelor's degree from Georgia Tech.

Stefan’s research has potential applications in various fields, including high-energy physics, where the deployment of graph neural networks in hardware.

Abi-Karam's dedication to his research and his success in blending his Ph.D. studies with his work at GTRI exemplify GTRI’s Mission's aims of Educating Future Technology Leaders and being a “People-First” environment.

This award not only recognizes Abi-Karam's individual excellence but also underscores GTRI’s and Georgia Tech's role as leaders in the field of cybersecurity and electrical and computer engineering research.

"The award itself was very unexpected since this was my first time at the FPL conference!" said Stefan excitedly and humbly. "It was also the first time I got to meet and talk to many of the other professors and students for the first time who also work in my research area as well as other areas that overlap with my work at GTRI."

Congratulations, Stefan!

Subtitle

Summary sentence

Stefan Abi-Karam, a member of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and a Ph.D. student was recently honored with the prestigious FPL Community Award for his significant research contributions within the field-programmable logic community.

Summary

Dateline

Mon, 11/27/2023 - 12:00

michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu

Contact

(Interim) Director of Communications

Michelle Gowdy

Michelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu

404-407-8060

Associated importer

Keywords

GTRI

Research

go-researchnews

science and technology

innovation

student research

developing future technology leaders

FPL

Field-Programmable Logic and Applications

Georgia Tech Electrical and Computer Engineering

Categories

Education

Institute and Campus

Research

Student Honors and Achievements

Mercury ID

671239

Source updated

Fri, 03/22/2024 - 09:58

Digital Inspection Portal Uses AI and Machine Vision to Examine Moving Trains

admin — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 13:50:41 +0000

Digital Inspection Portal Uses AI and Machine Vision to Examine Moving Trains admin Fri, 01/26/2024 - 08:50

Collaboration between Norfolk Southern Corporation and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has led to the development of digital train inspection portals that use advanced machine vision and artificial intelligence to examine trains moving at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour to identify mechanical defects that may exist.

Machine vision technology in the portals produces images of key components located on the front and back, top, bottom, and sides of train cars, providing a 360-degree view of the complete train. Images produced by the portal are analyzed within minutes of a train’s passage, allowing any issues identified to be reported immediately.

Two train portals are currently in operation on adjacent tracks in Leetonia, Ohio, and the company plans to have as many as a dozen in service by the end of 2024. Among them will be a train portal already under construction near Jackson, Georgia, which is located south of Atlanta.

“Norfolk Southern is deploying Digital Train Inspection Portals to enhance rail safety across the company’s 22-state network,” said Mabby Amouie, chief data scientist for the company. “The portals feature cutting-edge machine vision inspection technology developed in partnership with GTRI, which engineered the hardware, and Norfolk Southern’s Data Science/Artificial Intelligence and Mechanical teams, which built the brains behind the program.”

The machine vision portion uses 38 high-resolution cameras consisting of a mix of area and line scan cameras to photograph critical components of each rail car moving through the portals. Powerful lights comparable to those used in sports stadiums allow the cameras to take approximately a thousand photographs of each moving rail car.

“Being able to look at the train while it’s moving at 60 miles per hour provides visibility into defects that would be difficult to see otherwise,” said Gary McMurray, division chief of GTRI’s Intelligent Sustainable Technologies Division. “You want to be able to look at a train while it’s in motion because that’s when components are stressed, and you can see other dynamic faults.”

To reduce the amount of data that must be analyzed, each camera is aimed at a specific area of the train and takes photographs only when components of interest are visible. “The high-speed cameras are strategically placed at angles to capture things that are difficult to detect with the human eye during stationary inspections,” said Amouie.

Sensors at each portal determine the speed of each train passing through and use that information to precisely control when the photographs are taken.

“Even with a train traveling 60 miles per hour, we are able to calculate in real time when to tell each camera to take a picture,” said Colin Usher, a GTRI senior research scientist who led development of the machine vision system. “Only images of critical components are taken and the other areas of the train that are inconsequential to identifying defects are not captured. That optimizes the image capture and saves space in the computer system.”

The images produced by the system are analyzed by artificial intelligence algorithms developed by Norfolk Southern. The algorithms were designed to provide a combination of high accuracy and very low rates of false positives. If defects are spotted, the AI systems reports them immediately.

“The computer transmits the information to Norfolk Southern’s Network Operations Center, where the data is reviewed by subject-matter experts to identify and address issues to proactively ensure the safety of rail operations,” Amouie said. “Critical defects are flagged for immediate handling.”

The machine vision system uses image compression techniques to reduce the size of the photographs processed by computer servers located in the portals. For a single train, the data analyzed can amount to as much as 500 gigabytes. Because the inspection needs to be done quickly, the image processing is done on-site.

The inspection portals must operate year-round in all kinds of weather conditions and in geographic locations that range from extreme heat to cold. The machine vision system therefore has to operate despite heavy vibration levels, temperature extremes, rain and snow – and to remain clean as trains pass over.

To protect the cameras, air blown over the camera lenses shields them, while air-conditioned enclosures prevent overheating of the equipment. The system operates in a tunnel structure that helps protect the equipment and control lighting, which must be consistent across the train being inspected.

The project, which began in 2021, involved approximately a dozen researchers in four GTRI laboratories. The research built on imaging work done earlier for a variety of applications, including the food processing industry, which needed to monitor poultry on moving processing lines.

“By partnering with GTRI, Norfolk Southern is tapping into the best in machine vision technology in any market,” Amouie said. “We chose GTRI to be a partner because they develop advanced technology solutions and large-scale system prototypes to address the most difficult problems in national security, economic development and the overall human condition.”

Writer: John Toon (john.toon@gtri.gatech.edu)
GTRI Communications
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Georgia USA

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,900 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $940 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.

Summary sentence

Norfolk Southern Corporation and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed digital train inspection portals that use advanced machine vision and artificial intelligence to identify mechanical defects that may exist on moving trains.

Summary

Collaboration between Norfolk Southern Corporation and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has led to the development of digital train inspection portals that use advanced machine vision and artificial intelligence to examine trains moving at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour to identify mechanical defects that may exist.

Dateline

Fri, 01/19/2024 - 12:00

michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu

Contact

(Interim) Director of Communications

Michelle Gowdy

Michelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu

404-407-8060

Associated importer

Keywords

GTRI

Research

go-researchnews

science and technology

innovation

Norfolk Southern

Transportation

Trains

security

inspection

artificialintelligence

railways

Rail

machinevision

nationalsecurity

Georgia

News room topics

Business and Economic Development

Categories

City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth

Community

Computer Science/Information Technology and Security

Institute and Campus

Research

Mercury ID

672285

Source updated

Fri, 01/26/2024 - 08:49

Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation Grants Will Transform Courses in All Six Colleges

admin — Mon, 15 May 2023 20:41:31 +0000

Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation Grants Will Transform Courses in All Six Colleges admin Mon, 05/15/2023 - 16:41

One of the Institute Strategic Plan (ISP) goals is to connect globally and amplify impact by contributing “to global collaborative efforts that advance the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through our education, research, and service.” In response, Sustainability Next developed a plan to expand SDG concept and skill integration across the undergraduate curriculum. In support of the plan, 21 projects representing all six colleges and 15 schools were presented at the Undergraduate Sustainability Education Jamboree, held on April 26 in the Kendeda Building auditorium. With many winning projects featuring high enrollment and core courses, this first round of sustainability education “seed grants” will significantly expand the reach of Georgia Tech’s sustainability-across-the-curriculum initiatives.

“Our Strategic Plan commitment to bring the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into our teaching is part of our vision for transformative teaching and learning more broadly,” explains Larry Jacobs, Senior Vice Provost for Education and Learning. “Helping students identify connections between disciplinary concepts and skills and complex societal challenges enhances learning and supports Georgia Tech’s mission to equip students to improve the human condition.”

The Jamboree featured lightning presentations from the award winners, as well as presentations about related initiatives at Georgia Tech to help instructors, students, and staff better understand the landscape of sustainability education innovation on campus. Instructors engaged in course design or re-design through the awards will have opportunities to collaborate with and learn from their peers through a Community of Practice on Transformative Teaching with the SDGs and a SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) research group. Many began identifying potential collaborators at the event, as they heard from other award winners. “The afternoon of lightning presentations by fellow faculty was exhilarating,” Sabir Khan, Associate Professor, Schools of Industrial Design and Architecture, shared. “I came away impressed and excited at the range of projects and have already invited a few instructors to join my class in the fall to discuss their approaches to tackling the UN SDGs."

Presenter Kate Williams, Interim Director, Transformative Teaching and Learning, Faculty Initiatives, shared connections between the Sustainability Innovation Awards and Georgia Tech’s Transformative Teaching and Learning (TTL) strategic initiative. “The success of the first round of Sustainability Education Innovation Grants demonstrates our faculty's commitment to creating innovative experiential learning opportunities for students,” Dr. Williams noted.

For more information about future award opportunities or the communities of practice described above, please contact Jennifer Leavey (Assistant Dean for Faculty Mentoring, College of Sciences) or Rebecca Watts Hull (Assistant Director, Faculty Development for Sustainability Education Initiatives, Center for Teaching and Learning).

Review all 21 awarded Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation projects.

Summary sentence

21 projects representing all six colleges and 15 schools were presented at the Undergraduate Sustainability Education Jamboree.

Summary

Dateline

Thu, 05/04/2023 - 12:00

rhull8@gatech.edu

Keywords

sustainability education

innovation

grants

undergraduate

SDG

cos-students

cos-climate

News room topics

Campus and Community

Categories

Community

Economic Development and Policy

Education

Environment

Institute and Campus

Institute Leadership

Research

Student and Faculty

Mercury ID

667765

Source updated

Mon, 05/15/2023 - 16:26

Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation Grants Will Transform Courses in All Six Colleges

admin — Fri, 05 May 2023 18:11:31 +0000

Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation Grants Will Transform Courses in All Six Colleges admin Fri, 05/05/2023 - 14:11

Review all 21 awarded Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation projects.

Summary sentence

21 projects representing all six colleges and 15 schools were presented at the Undergraduate Sustainability Education Jamboree.

Summary

Dateline

Thu, 05/04/2023 - 12:00

rhull8@gatech.edu

Keywords

sustainability education

innovation

grants

undergraduate

SDG

News room topics

Campus and Community

Categories

Community

Education

Economic Development and Policy

Institute Leadership

Student and Faculty

Environment

Institute and Campus

Research

Mercury ID

667660

Source updated

Fri, 05/05/2023 - 14:11

Team Sola Wins 2022 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize

bwaye3 — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 15:15:37 +0000

Team Sola Wins 2022 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize bwaye3 Thu, 03/17/2022 - 11:15

Using 70 years of tornado damage data, two Georgia Tech students have developed a proprietary model to help homeowners access financial support immediately following the devastation of a tornado.

Mechanical engineering students Brayden Drury and Wesley Pergament have used those seven decades of information provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service to come up with technology that can calculate the likelihood for future disasters and what payouts may be necessary.

“Essentially, it’s like our company has been around for 70 years,” explained Drury.

Because of limits and exclusions in insurance coverage, homeowners often have to pay out of pocket in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster. Team Sola hopes their model for a data-driven supplemental insurance plan with quick payouts will change that, benefiting homeowners as soon as they need it — while also benefiting home insurance providers.

With their $20,000 check for winning the InVenture competition, Team Sola hopes to start partnering with some of America’s major insurance companies. Drury and Pergament say it will also allow for them to pull in developers to continue to enhance their modeling software.

The judges noted Team Sola’s evident passion.

“How does one get passion for insurance?” asked InVenture Prize judge Kolby Hanley, 2017 InVenture Prize winner and CEO of UltraView Archery.

“These industries are so fascinating to look at, but they can be riddled with problems,” responded Pergament. “We’re just passionate about solving a big problem that hasn’t been solved yet.”

In addition to the cash prize, Team Sola will receive a free U.S. patent filing from Georgia Tech’s Office of Technology Licensing and a spot in CREATE-X, Georgia Tech’s startup incubator.

Second place and $10,000 went to Team Foambuster, a team of mechanical engineers that has developed a handheld tool to minimize the snow-like debris created by installing external insulation finishing systems.

And for the People’s Choice Award, the viewing audience used text and web platforms to submit their votes. That $5,000 prize went to Team Reflex, which is currently testing an emergency medical drone response system to deliver lifesaving medical equipment.

“There were so many amazing pitches, and these students are so amazing,” said InVenture Prize judge Duriya Farooqui, board director of Intercontinental Hotels Group and Intercontinental Exchange.

Hanley also expressed how impressed he was by all the finalists, noting, “All of these teams are going to be successful.”

Check out all of this year's finalist teams here.

Subtitle

Students aim to provide financial assistance to homeowners more quickly after tornadoes

Summary sentence

Students aim to provide financial assistance to homeowners more quickly after tornadoes

Summary

Mechanical engineering students Brayden Drury and Wesley Pergament won the $20,000 prize for their data-driven supplemental insurance platform which covers immediate out-of-pocket expenses for US homeowners following losses from tornadoes.

Dateline

Thu, 03/17/2022 - 12:00

snorris@gatech.edu

Contact

Steven Norris
Institute Communications

Location

Atlanta, GA

Associated importer

Keywords

Georgia Tech

Georgia

Georgia Institute of Technology

Invention

InVenture Prize

studnt inventions

innovation

shark tank

pitch

Competition

american idol for nerds

gpb

sola

tornado

insurance

engineering

News room topics

Business and Economic Development

Campus and Community

Mercury ID

656425

Source updated

Thu, 03/17/2022 - 09:34

innovation

Georgia Tech Leads the Way in AI Literacy with OpenAI Academy Collaboration

Related links

Keywords

News room topics

Categories

Georgia Tech Leads the Way in AI Literacy with OpenAI Academy Collaboration

Related links

Keywords

News room topics

Categories

Leading the Charge in Additive Manufacturing: Team Convexity

Q&A with Team Convexity's Calla Scotch

Related links

Keywords

Categories

CREATE-X: A Decade of Success

Related links

Keywords

Categories

Student Startup Wins $50K With ADHD Tool

Keywords

Categories

GTRI’s Stefan Abi-Karam Receives Esteemed FPL Community Award

Keywords

Categories

Digital Inspection Portal Uses AI and Machine Vision to Examine Moving Trains

Keywords

News room topics

Categories

Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation Grants Will Transform Courses in All Six Colleges

Related links

Keywords

News room topics

Categories

Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation Grants Will Transform Courses in All Six Colleges

Related links

Keywords

News room topics

Categories

Team Sola Wins 2022 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize

Keywords

News room topics