This article was written by Charles S Moye, C/1LT, AFROTC (Fall 2021 Public Affairs Officer)
Detachment 172 hosted an HH-60W helicopter and crew from Moody AFB. The goal of this visit was to expose Air Force ROTC cadets to the career of an HH-60W pilot.
Above: Cadets look on as Moody AFB personnel speak. Photo taken by Ethan Lowe.
Major Moore, Valdosta State University alumnus and pilot, shared his experiences and provided advice to cadets. Joining Major Moore were six additional military officers consisting of an A-10 Pilot, C-130 Pilot, C-130 Combat Systems Officer, two Intelligence Officers, a Maintenance Officer, and two HH-60 Special Mission Aviators who also provided advice and answered questions regarding their respective career fields.
Underclassmen were given the opportunity to gain more insight into various career options and Upperclassmen were given the opportunity to gain insight into the life of a commissioned officer. This visit to Detachment 172 is another great example of the partnership among Moody Air Force Base, Detachment 172, and Valdosta State University. Photos from the event can be viewed here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/valdostastate/albums/72157720052137604/with/51616173129/ (all photographs taken by Ethan Lowe).
In 2020, the City of Valdosta was awarded a Georgia Smart Communities Challenge 2020 grant for their proposal “Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Traffic Monitoring and Communication System for the City of Valdosta and Its Communities to Improve Safety, Connectivity, and Efficiency”. Dr. Hojjatie, Professor of Engineering Studies and Coordinator of the VSU Engineering Studies program, has been serving as Research Partner as part of the collaborative team led by the city. With the City of Valdosta and Project Manager Patrick Collins (City Engineer and Director) leading the efforts, other project partners include Valdosta State University, Lowndes County, Temple, Inc., Applied Information, Inc., and Research Partner Dr. Baabak Ashuri with Georgia Tech.
According to the proposal, the focus of the project is to “create new capabilities for the City of Valdosta’s Traffic Management Center”. Through this project, the City of Valdosta is working toward the vision of a smart traffic management system in which the 128 major traffic signals found within the city communicate with one another, resulting in improvements in traffic flow, increased road safety, and a reduction in the number of traffic accidents.
At left: student David Yoo presents at the Connected Vehicles Roundtable Discussion held at Valdosta State University on June 23, 2021.
Dr. Hojjatie summarized the importance of the work by highlighting the impact it has had on the community as well as the collaborative efforts that went in to the project. “I think that the project was very special because it resulted in improvement of traffic signals and safety in Valdosta, was a collaborative work with GA Tech, city of Valdosta and two High-Tech industries, and more importantly, a total of 8 of Valdosta State University engineering students including females and underrepresented as well as international engineering students were actively involved in the project. Furthermore, based on external feedback received from many including GA Tech, the work of VSU Engineering was a success.”
At right: Dr. Barry Hojjatiepresents at the Connected Vehicles Roundtable Discussion held at Valdosta State University on June 23, 2021.
Click here to read the project’s proposal in its entirety.
To view a webinar about the project which took place on September 23rd, 2021, please visit https://youtu.be/c9nI29cpeDE.
To read more about the Georgia Smart program, click here.
The College of Science and Mathematics congratulates Dr. Hojjatie and other participating VSU faculty members and students on their contributions to this project. We are excited to see the continuing impact the effort by students and faculty of the engineering program will have on the Valdosta community through this collaborative effort.
Meet Dr. Hojjatie:
Dr. Hojjatie received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida and also holds a PE licensure (Professional Engineer). He is the coordinator of the VSU Engineering Studies program, highlighting the Regents’ Engineering Pathway Program (REPP) connection to Georgia Tech. His research interests include computer aided design/engineering (CAD/CAE), computational/experimental mechanics and heat transfer analyses related to dental materials and other biomaterials, pulp and paper manufacturing, and paper physics.
Dr. Adam Safer’s summer herpetology class is featured in the most recent bulletin published by Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Back in June, they had the opportunity to help biologists check turtle traps located on the Alapaha River and the results are in – they logged four different types of turtles, with the Suwannee alligator snapping turtle as the targeted species, the largest of which weighed nearly 40 pounds!
Students were able to assist in obtaining data on these snappers including sex determination, weighing, measuring upper and lower shell lengths, and marking them with a transponder. This information will be integral in helping assess the species’ status.
