Ziran Wang, an assistant professor in Purdue University's Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering and the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (by courtesy), has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, "CAREER: Vehicle Adaptive Shared Control: Predicting Human Driver Cognitive and Intent States for Personalized Control Decisions by Automated Vehicles." The project will establish new scientific foundations for automated vehicles that can interpret human attention, intent, and cognitive state in real time, allowing them to make personalized shared-control decisions that improve safety, trust, and the overall driving experience.

As AI continues to evolve toward Physical AI, future automated vehicles must understand not only the physical world but also the people around them. Wang's research will develop human-centered AI foundation models and world models that help vehicles reason about traffic environments and human behavior, enabling more natural and trustworthy interactions between people and intelligent machines.

The project will establish an end-to-end research framework that spans digital twins in high-fidelity simulations and real-vehicle testing at automotive proving grounds. By validating AI technologies before deployment and continuously refining them through real-world experiments, the research aims to accelerate the deployment of safer and smarter automated driving systems.

"Automated vehicles should not only drive for people, but also work with people," Wang said. "By enabling vehicles to understand human intent and cognitive state, we can build AI systems that adapt to individual users and earn people's trust in everyday transportation."

Beyond automated driving, the project will advance human-AI collaboration in safety-critical systems while preparing the next generation of engineers through integrated research, education, and community engagement.

The NSF CAREER Award is among the nation’s most prestigious awards for early-career faculty members. Read more on the award page: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2541931.