GENI WiMAX, a new computer-networking device perched atop 5057 Woodward, is helping the computer science department lead research that may make the driverless car a reality.

Professors Jing Hua and Hongwei Zhang, along with a team of students from the College of Engineering, took home the second place prize for their work at the 20th GENI Engineering Conference Demo Competition held at the University of California, Davis in June. The team was one of 32 selected to demonstrate application of the Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) technology in research and development projects. Competing teams came from major research universities across the United States and as far as Russia and Japan.

The Wayne State project, Vehicular Sensing and Control, is funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) and uses the high-powered networking device positioned on 5057 Woodward to explore vehicular sensing and communication to enhance automotive safety and fuel economy. The team outfitted two vehicles with cameras, sensors and GENI technology to conduct their preliminary research.

Continued funding from NSF is expected, and the team will begin using WSU Police Department vehicles for their next phase.

Wayne State is one of only a handful of existing GENI WiMAX resource sites in the United States.

Photo: (left to right) Yuehua Wang, Hai Jin, Jing Hua and Chuan Li