Wayne State University recently announced that it’s working to transform transportation through research spanning electric vehicle (EV) technology, autonomous systems, next-generation batteries, smart infrastructure, and public-transit optimization.
Dr. Caishang Wang leads WSU’s Center for Electric, Connected and Autonomous Technologies.
The work is driven by campus-wide collaborations organized under major research groups such as the Center for Electric, Connected and Autonomous Technologies (eCAT), the Transportation Research Group, and the Center for Automotive Research.
A few examples of the current research efforts include:
- In materials and semiconductor research, Dr. Charles Winter, professor of chemistry, is developing improved materials for next-generation chips that support AI workloads inside autonomous and EV platforms. His work aims to increase efficiency, speed, and power performance in embedded automotive systems.
- In the James and Patricia Anderson College of Engineering, Associate Professor of Computer Science Dr. Zheng Dong is developing safer and more reliable autonomous-vehicle systems. His work centers on AI-driven perception, path-planning, and control algorithms. These represent core engineering challenges for future EVs and software-defined vehicles operating in complex urban environments.
- Dr. Yanchao Liu, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering, is advancing high-density aerial-traffic management frameworks for commercial drones used in logistics, agriculture, and public safety. His group’s expertise recently contributed to a US Air Force contract with Airspace Experience Technologies (ASX) for a joint command system capable of coordinating automated air and ground vehicles.
Next-gen batteries and e-mobility
Wayne State is also accelerating research in EV infrastructure, smart-grid integration, and V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communication through eCAT, led by Dr. Caishang Wang.
Testing of prototype lithium metal batteries (coin cell format) at Wayne State University
The center serves as an NSF Industry–University Cooperative Research Center, partnering with automotive and energy-sector engineers to design scalable mobility technologies.
Researchers are also pursuing several next-generation battery chemistries with the potential to reshape EV energy storage:
- Dr. Leela Arava is developing lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, capable of storing up to five times more energy than lithium-ion, a major opportunity for improving EV range while reducing weight and material costs.
- Dr. Mahbub Islam is researching magnesium–carbon dioxide (Mg-CO₂) batteries, which use abundant materials and convert CO₂ into electricity, offering a promising path toward sustainable, lower-cost energy storage.
These projects directly address engineering challenges related to energy density, supply-chain risk, sustainability, and long-term battery reliability for electric vehicles.
Safer, smarter, and more equitable transportation
Beyond EV hardware, Wayne State engineers are studying the broader transportation ecosystem. The Transportation Research Group examines system-level issues such as pedestrian safety, heavy-duty vehicle behavior, transit operations, and traffic engineering.
Other teams are leveraging AI to improve public-transit accessibility, optimize routes, and enhance real-time feedback for transit users.
Together, these efforts position Wayne State as a growing research hub for electric mobility engineering, spanning EV batteries, autonomous systems, semiconductor materials, transportation safety, and infrastructure modeling.
“This partnership represents an exciting opportunity to translate years of theoretical research into real-world impact,” said Liu. “Our work in high-density aerial traffic management has always been driven by a vision of safer, more efficient, and more equitable mobility.”
Filed Under: Batteries, Technology News