COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Three UNT Engineering researchers have been named finalists for two prestigious Tech Titans awards.

The awards showcase outstanding tech companies and individuals in North Texas who are transforming the industry and paving the way for new inventions and technical applications.

Narendra Dahotre is a finalist for the Technology Inventor Award, which recognizes the pioneering accomplishments of a person, team, or group responsible for the creation of breakthrough ideas, processes or products that have advanced the discipline(s) of the arts, education, electronics, energy, engineering, environment, medicine and/or science.

Dahotre, who is a University Regents Professor and associate vice president for the Center for Agile and Adaptive Additive Manufacturing (CAAAM), is an accomplished inventor with 18 issued and two pending U.S. patents in the laser-materials processing and manufacturing field. His latest endeavor in leading establishment of CAAAM, is a comprehensive additive manufacturing and 3D printing center that leverages UNT’s substantial expertise in laser-based material processing and manufacturing and UNT’s Materials Research Facility. Dahotre led four other UNT Engineering faculty and their graduate students in the vision to develop CAAAM, shared that vision with the DFW metroplex manufacturing companies and developed a proposal for the 2019 Texas Legislature session that resulted in an investment of $10 million by the State of Texas followed by additional funding of $10 million for fiscal year 2022-2023.

Computer science and engineering researchers Qing Yang and Song Fu, together, are finalists for the Tech Titans of the Future – University award, which recognizes educational institutions that encourage and support students in choosing engineering and technology-related disciplines as a preferred path. The category spotlights DFW area higher educational institutions’ tech-related curricula and incentives to perpetuate tech-related knowledge transfer.

Yang and Fu are pioneers in the world of connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) research. Their work focuses on cooperative perception, vehicular edge computing, deep learning on vehicles, trustworthy vehicular systems and intelligent information dissemination in vehicular networks. Within the past two years, they’ve received more than $1 million in funding from the National Science Foundation to explore vehicle-to-vehicle communication, cooperative perception, data privacy and security, and to create workforce development training.

“Narendra Dahotre, Qing Yang and Song Fu are all incredible researchers who are not only at the forefronts of their fields, but also creating solutions that will leave a lasting impact on our community. We are fortunate to have them here at UNT,” says UNT College of Engineering Dean Hanchen Huang.

Award winners will be announced at the Tech Titans Awards Gala in Dallas on Jan. 19.