Faculty Focus on Professor Levent Guvenc

Faculty Focus introduces you to our talented scholars who continue to attract the best and brightest engineering students and whose insights and research keep us at the leading edge of innovation and discovery.

Levent Guvenc

Professor

Director, Automated Driving Lab

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What is the focus of your research and why is it significant?

I started my career in the area of robotics and control systems after I received my PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering (MAE) at The Ohio State University in 1992. My research has always concentrated on automatic control and mechatronic systems ranging from control of atomic force microscope scanning to helicopter stability and control systems. Since 2000, my research focus has been automotive control systems, especially active safety systems such as electronic stability control and advanced driver assistance systems. Since 2007, my research has concentrated more on vehicle automation and automated driving. In 2010, I began working on connected vehicles. Currently, my main research area isconnected and automated driving, which is highly significant as vehicle-to-vehicle communication modems are expected to become standard equipment in cars and we will start seeing series produced automated driving vehicles as early as 2020. Due to the introduction of these new technologies, we will be experiencing a decade of very exciting transformative changes in the mobility of people and goods.

Why should a prospective student consider mechanical engineering?

Mechanical engineering has been at the core of all technological advancements in the past, present andfuture. Regardless of how technology will inevitably advance and change, mechanical engineers will be designing, testing and manufacturing needed products.Mechanical engineering has also gone through tremendous change. We do not just concentrate on products on the macro scale, but have expanded to the micro and nano scales. I recommend that prospective engineering students consider the wide range of applications that MAE faculty are working on as an indication of the areas they can pursue upon graduation.

What do you like most about your job?

I like working in the Automated Driving Lab, being a part of the department and the Center for Automotive Research. I feel lucky that I am in close proximity to the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty, Ohio, which is a world-class proving ground where we can test our automated driving cars. I am surrounded by excellent faculty members and top undergraduate and graduate students. The ability to work with young and inquisitive students, demonstrating our work using connected and automated vehicles that we develop, makes my job very exciting.

What advice would you give students considering an engineering career?

Choose your engineering department and career interests wisely and make sure that you will actually enjoy doing it. Once you have made your decision, put forth your best effort to excel in that area.

What hobby or interest you pursue outside of your work interests?

I like to watch science fiction movies, playing soccer and, of course, swimming at a warm and beautiful Mediterranean beach during the summer.