UNDERSTANDING ECOSYSTEMS

Joyradyn James-Rollins, a McNair Scholar and undergraduate majoring in ecology and minoring in chemistry, is conducting research in the lab of Zacchaeus Compson, a biological sciences assistant professor affiliated with UNT’s Advanced Environmental Research Institute who specializes in food web ecology, aquatic ecology and DNA metabarcoding. JamesRollins’ project is titled, “Assessing the controls of C and N transfer from leaves to aquatic insects in streams of the National Ecological Observatory Network,” and is part of a larger stream ecosystem research project. Their research can be used to not only understand trophic systems in stream environments, but also to develop a comprehensive understanding that can help accurately predict how climate change or other factors may affect these ecosystems.

Bilingual Learning

Maria Ortega (’22), a frst-generation education major with EC-6 bilingual certifcation, had her frst research publication,“Juntxs with the comunidad: A collaboration across two universities and one school district,” in the Texas Journal of Literacy Education. Te paper shares her experiences with the Bilingual Homework Hotline, an online homework help platform created in response to COVID-19’s impact in Denton’s Latinx community. It critically examines bilingual education with a look toward improving the feld for future students. Trough her work in education, Ortega hopes to help underrepresented students who speak English as a second language by not only advocating for them, but also being an example of what they can achieve when they see someone who looks like them in positions of authority.

Neural Networking

Sahar Behpour (’22 Ph.D), a recent doctoral graduate in information science, realized her strong interest in developing data-driven universal artifcial intelligence after taking a machine learning course with Mark Albert, assistant professor of biomedical engineering. While studying the visual information processing in the brain, also known as efcient coding, Behpour wondered,“How can we use similar processes when making artifcial neuron networks?” From this inquiry, she chose her dissertation topic – weight initialization of convolutional neural networking using unsupervised machine learning. Each new research discovery and focus leads Behpour to her ultimate goal of becoming a leader in the artifcial intelligence feld. She hopes to create diferent infostructures to analyze data and models to provide a diverse set of services for the greater community.

Fashion Education

Jennifer Stanley, a design graduate student with a concentration in fashion design and creative technology, is discovering ways to transform fashion design education. Stanley partnered with UNT fashion design faculty Chanjuan Chen and Hae Jin Gam to explore how students’ learning ability can improve when using technology along with collaborative teaching strategies. Stanley hopes to encourage fashion design educators to critically refect on traditional coursework and to promote improved learning experiences that can prepare students for a future in an industry that stands on the culture of collaboration. As a domestic violence survivor, Stanley’s Jen•Ley fashion label shares empowering designs inspired by social issues and women’s rights while raising awareness for domestic violence victims. Stanley next plans to research how wearable technologies can be taught to aspiring fashion designers.

Boren Fellow In Military History

Andrew Huebner (’19 M.A.), a doctoral student in history, became the frst UNT graduate student to be named a Boren Fellow. Te highly competitive Boren Fellowship, funded by the National Security Education Program, is open to U.S. graduate students and funds research and language study in “world regions critical to U.S. interests.” Huebner is spending a full academic year learning Russian at Russian Language Academy in Latvia, as well as conducting archival research in the Baltic Sea region for his dissertation examining how American humanitarian relief operations in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) during the years immediately following WWI played a key role in the rise of new nation-states and the development of humanitarian relief. As a Boren Fellow, Huebner will work for at least one year in a federal agency after completing his doctoral degree at UNT.

Whether it’s studying the logistics of drones, using satellite imagery or the power of big data, UNT researchers through the support of NASA are making innovative discoveries that are out of this world.

In an emergency, every minute is critical and could mean the diference between life or death. Flying an unmanned air ambulance along predefned “air routes” could get help to an accident scene more quickly after a 9-1-1 call. Tose same “air routes” could connect various hospitals, drastically speeding up delivery times for donated organs and human tissue needed for lifesaving transplants.

Tis vision of “air routes” — creating set paths in the airspace for drones to fy from point to point — would be like “highways in the sky,” says Kamesh Namuduri, UNT professor of electrical engineering. It’s not a reality yet, but that vision from Namuduri and other researchers in UNT’s Center for Integrated Int e l l i g e nt Mo b i l i t y Systems (CIIMS) got one step closer to reality on a bright day this past October.

A surrogate electric Vertical Take-Of and L a n d i ng ( e V TOL ) aircraft, accompanied by a Bell 407GXi helicopter, took of from CIIMS partner Hillwood’s AllianceTexas Flight Test Center in Justin and few to UNT’s Discovery Park in Denton. Namuduri and other researchers monitored the test fight, using their radios and tablets to stay connected.

Te project moved researchers closer to a high-demand air route for unmanned, autonomous cargo- and passengercarrying air transport. As part of the Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign Project, the exercise involved the work of 15 entities including NASA as well as Bell Textron, Unmanned Experts Inc., AAMTEX, Hillwood and the Federal Aviation Administration.

“CIIMS works with all 15 partners very closely,” Namuduri says. “Te highways in the sky help move people and cargo much faster, thus contributing to local and regional economic growth as well as preparing the future workforce through education and training.”

But it’s not the only project that UNT researchers are conducting with NASA, one of the nation’s most prestigious government agencies. From examining satellite and aerial images aimed at improving farmers’ irrigation techniques to using shape memory alloy technology to make aircraft fy faster, researchers are using NASA’s many tools and funding — and putting UNT, a Tier One public research university on the rise, on the map for its interdisciplinary, forward-thinking approaches — to create innovative projects that could transform lives.

Namuduri, who frst learned about the Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign at a conference in 2020, is excited for the prospects for these “highways in the sky.”

“In the future, we are going to see a lot of vehicles. And if we are guaranteeing the safety and security of people and infrastructure, then we are going to see a lot of scaling up, thousands of vehicles are going to fy,” says Namuduri. “We are the pioneers in this new technology and are seeking to make this vision a safer, better future reality for all of us.”

Intelligent Mobility

Tose two years of work preparing for the simulation involved detailed planning and research to make sure the systems were working, which included technologies such as future airspace system automation and advanced communications infrastructure. Te sprints were scripted and well-planned ahead of time by the UNT team and their partners to make sure the trafc management system was working properly.

Te researchers had to consider what issues and challenges the unmanned aircraft may encounter — such as regulations, safety and how to handle weather. Tey even simulated a rainstorm during its second test run. Tey also needed to determine how drones “talk” to each other, such as giving the right of way at an intersection.

Te simulation provided vital data for industry standards in airspace management, vehicle-to-infrastructure communication and autonomous fight operations, as well as expanded on earlier NASA-led research to include the integration of live weather data and dynamic capacity balancing into a complex hardware and software solution needed to realize the next generation of airborne travel.

“Te test moves the North Texas region one step closer to a future where

“The test moves the North Texas region one step closer to a future where air taxis, air ambulances and delivery vehicles are a normal part of

Watch a video about how CIIMS is changing transportation and mobility.