Time: 3-4 pm Eastern Time, April 10 (Friday), 2026

Location: MSEE 112

Zoom Link: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/95468302127

Coffee and snacks will be provide.

Computational Safety for Generative AI

Abstract:

The transportation sector is the single largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) are responsible for 27% of transportation GHGs, despite representing only 1% of on-road vehicles. We examine the following question: Can battery electric trucks lower the societal cost of long-haul freight in the U.S.? Hint: The answer is not self-evident. Next we explore battery swapping as an alternative to fast charging long-haul HDVs. Battery swapping provides several under-appreciated benefits, including (i) faster fright movement (ton-miles/hr), and (ii) grid-scale energy storage services from battery swapping stations. The final act of this talk introduces a new research center ACCELRT: Autonomous Cargo Carriers for Enhanced Logistics in Rural & Tribal areas. The challenge: our transportation infrastructure does not adequately serve goods movement into and out of rural communities. Meanwhile, automation technologies are benefiting urban dwellers, yet leaving rural communities behind. This six-year research center seeks to leverage automation technology to resolve this problem across three metrics: cost, throughput, and reliability.

Speaker:

Scott Moura is a Professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering and Director of the Energy, Controls, & Applications Lab (eCAL). He is also the Acting Director of the Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies. He recently stepped aside as PATH Faculty Director, and Chair of Engineering Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He received the B.S. degree from the University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2006, 2008, and 2011, respectively, all in mechanical engineering. From 2011 to 2013, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Cymer Center for Control Systems and Dynamics, University of California, San Diego. In 2013, he was a Visiting Researcher at the Centre Automatique et Systèmes, MINES ParisTech, Paris, France. His research interests include control, optimization, and machine learning for batteries, electrified vehicles, and distributed energy resources. Dr. Moura is a recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Divisoin Young Investigator Award, Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentor Award, the Hellman Fellowship, the O. Hugo Shuck Best Paper Award, the ACC Best Student Paper Award (as advisor), the ACC and ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference Best Student Paper Finalist (as student and advisor), the UC Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, the University of Michigan Distinguished ProQuest Dissertation Honorable Mention, the University of Michigan Rackham Merit Fellowship, and the College of Engineering Distinguished Leadership Award.

Organizers: Ziran Wang (ziran@purdue.edu), Yan Gu (yangu@purdue.edu), Yu She (shey@purdue.edu)