MAE researchers win best paper award at international computing conference
Steve Paul (right), Jhoel Witter (2nd from the right) and Souma Chowdury (2nd from the left) at a robotics conference in 2022.
By Elizabeth Egan
Published September 13, 2024
Associate Professor Souma Chowdhury and mechanical engineering alumni Steve Paul (PhD, ‘24) and Jhoel Witter (MS, ‘22) received a best paper award at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group On Applied Computing’s annual symposium. “Graph Learning-based Fleet Scheduling for Urban Air Mobility under Operational Constraints, Varying Demand and Uncertainties” was chosen as the best paper out of over 60 other presentations in the category of AI and Agents at the 2024 Symposium of Applied Computing
The authors’ research explored the concept of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) that uses electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts to offer automated air transport. The global market size for this mode of transportation, which can be utilized for passengers, cargo and critical services such as air-ambulances, is projected to be $1.5 trillion by 2040. According to the authors the economic viability depends on the ability to safely operate a large number of increasingly autonomous eVTOLs in regional markets, requiring a way to schedule flight plans that meet demand patterns and airspace constraints, while keeping a low energy footprint. Given the complexity of the UAM transportation network, it can take hours to make a daily schedule.
Paul and Witter worked under the supervision of Chowdhury, a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, while at UB to create a new artificial intelligence framework to compute these decisions in a matter of seconds. They built the framework using emerging machine learning models that operate on graphs and learn from simulated experiences.
“This award is a testament to the dedication and ingenuity of the graduate students, Steve and Jhoel, whom I had the privilege to mentor and work with at the University at Buffalo,” said Chowdhury, who noted that the research was performed primarily by Paul as he pursued his PhD at UB with assistance from Witter while he was working on his master’s degree.
The research was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation and the United States Office of Naval Research.
A faculty member at UB since 2016, Chowdhury is director of the Adaptive Design Algorithms, Models and Systems laboratory and co-director of the university-wide Center for Embodied Autonomy and Robotics (CEAR). He earned an NSF CAREER Award in 2021 and the SEAS Senior Researcher of the Year Award in 2023. He is also an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
He earned his PhD in mechanical engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Florida International University and his bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology.
The team received the award after presenting their research at the symposium that took place in Avila, Spain at the Lienzo Norte Conferences and Exhibitions Centre in April.