The Cooper Union Intelligent Ground Vehicle (IGV) team has secured an impressive second-place win for self-driving vehicles and third-place for self-drive design at this year’s Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC). The team’s dedication and innovative approach were recognized as they showcased their exceptional skills in designing and developing autonomous vehicles at the annual competition held in Rochester, Michigan, from June 3 to 5. In addition, the team won the competition’s First to Qualify award.

Professor Neveen Shlayan credits the team’s success to what she calls “an innovative scalable educational model” through the Vertically-Integrated Projects (VIP), EID 101,  Senior Design. “Our students’ enthusiasm and eagerness to be challenged in new and different ways that better prepare them for research and innovation is an unstoppable force that should be leveraged," she said. The team’s project didn’t grow out of EID 101 “but we are using EID 101 to onboard new students and VIP for them to continue working on it.” She added that there are also graduate-level electives for students at that level who want to work on an Intelligent Ground Vehicle. The team, which is advised by Michael Giglia, adjunct instructor of mechanical engineering and technician in the mechanical and electrical engineering departments, has grown from two to close to 30 students in a relatively short period of time.

Shlayan pointed out that the team’s leaders have nurtured a “strong sense of community and support the student’s experience working on this challenging project.” Captain Dan Mezhiborsky, who graduated this May with his Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering, reported that the team that placed first has won every year since the competition started in 1993, using a commercial drive-by-wire kit, which was also used by the third- and fourth-place winners. Cooper’s team, on the other hand, built the car’s hardware and software themselves. 

This year's team members include Daniel Mezhiborsky EE’23 (captain), Joya Debi EE’23 (project manager), Ridwan Hussain EE’25 and Ilona Lameka EE’25 (financial managers), Jeannette Circe ME’22 MME’24, Youngwoong Cho ME’23, Giuseppe Quaratino EE’24, Andy Jaku EE’25, Azra Rangwala EE’25, Isaiah Rivera EE’25, Jacob Koziej EE’25, Vaibhav Hariani EE’26, and Noam Schuck EE’26.