New NASA and DoD Grants Help Launch PVAMU Students into Space Science, and Beyond

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (May 25, 2023) – Two new data science research projects, supported by a combined $2.3M in grant funding from the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are putting Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) at the forefront of the next technological frontier, particularly in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and big data analytics. Lijun Qian, Ph.D., Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Center for Computational Systems Biology, will serve as Principal Investigator (PI) for both projects – one that leverages radio frequency (RF) learning to create more sophisticated wireless systems, and another that engages natural language processing to make space science more discoverable and accessible to all.

Both endeavors combine emergent concepts in data science to give undergraduate and graduate students an active role in areas that are “poised to significantly impact the work of data scientists and analysts,” Mike Kincaid, associate administrator of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, said in a statement. These high-level, interdisciplinary research projects will help accelerate innovation in a wide range of science, technology, engineering and mathematic research areas that the agency says will “prepare the future workforce of data-intensive space-based Earth sciences.”

But the impact of their work will do more than confer a competitive edge on PVAMU students. They’re sharpening the tools and technologies that will re-shape the world as we know it – in our solar system and, perhaps, beyond.

“Our students and professors are making strides in fields that will be central to how society functions in the future,” says PVAMU Vice President of Research & Innovation Magesh Rajan, Ph.D, P.E., MBA. “In addition to strengthening the University’s legacy as a premiere place for cutting-edge research, they are helping to lay the groundwork for our next technological landscape.”

The DoD project, titled “Data Driven Radio Frequency Learning and Spectrum Sharing in Congested and Contested Wireless Environment,” aims to create more secure wireless systems that could help stabilize communication amid modern warfare. Heterogeneous wireless systems with big data and many inter-connected devices can result in highly complex and congested RF environments, making the efficient and secure use of scare spectrum essential. Leveraging a data-driven approach and an RF learning framework, Dr. Qian and his team, including three graduate students, will conduct deep learning experiments to achieve (RF) situational awareness that ensures secure and intelligent spectrum sharing for a more robust wireless system.

Co-PIs for the project include Xiangfang Li, Ph.D., Electrical Engineering professor, and Pamela Obiomon, Ph.D., professor and dean of the Roy G. Perry College of Engineering. They will work collaboratively to develop related curriculum and mentor students on systems engineering in wireless environments, which will be critical for the future of data science and national security.

Likewise, the NASA project will provide invaluable skills development and career training for students as they work alongside expert-level practitioners in some of the most in-demand areas of STEM, doing what has potential to be generation-defining work. Awarded through the Data Science Equity, Access, and Priority in Research and Education (DEAP) grant and lead by researchers at Texas A&M University, students at PVAMU will help build an AI-based system that can share interactive, instantaneous and user-relevant Earth science information that makes NASA insights and expertise more discoverable and accessible to people around the world. Think of it as googling science-based questions through a ChatGPT user experience, with answers coming directly from NASA’s trove of space-based Earth science.

“AI, machine learning, and big data analytics are transforming people’s lives, as demonstrated by the popular ChatGPT,” Dr. Qian says. “This project can be seen as a NASA-specific mini-ChatGPT created to communicate scientific information to a broader audience.”

With Co-PIs Dr. Li; Dr. Obiomon; Xishuang Dong, Ph.D., assistant professor of Electrical Engineering; Ling Wu, Ph.D., associate professor of Justice Studies; and Richard Wilkins, Ph.D., professor of Electrical Engineering, the team will use a semi-supervised neural machine to translate geospatial domain user queries into databased queries for the Earth Information Systems (EIS), NASA’s platform with 20+ years of observational data for “understanding and answering critical questions about Earth’s complex System of Systems.”

In addition to creating a potentially transformative public research tool, the project will strengthen PVAMU’s partnership with NASA and widen the pipeline for more science internships with the world’s premiere civilian space agency. The team will adapt and integrate educational materials into the University’s Data Science curriculum to provide for-credit and training experiences related to natural language processing and data science applications in the built and natural environment. The team’s three graduate students will contribute their project-based insights and analysis at the annual Student Research Development Workshop each summer, as well.

The implications of both projects have the potential to be far-reaching and multi-faceted, supporting efforts across several initiatives, industries and institutions. That includes paving the way for PVAMU to advance from its prestigious R2 research status to R1.

“These projects will greatly improve the research and educational capacity at multiple HBCU and MSIs,” Dr. Qian said. “They enable broad participation of underrepresented minorities in advanced research and provide much-needed diversity in the next-generation workforce for the nation.”