A project that began four years ago with two Midwestern State University students examining how to find better parking has grown into a full-fledged research group that covers areas as diverse as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and mobile application design.

For the next Faculty Forum presentation, Associate Professor of Computer Science Terry Griffin and Assistant Professor of Mathematics Marcos Lopez will discuss this project at 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 10, in Legacy Hall’s Multipurpose Room. Their talk, “Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning – The Undergrad Experience,” will cover how the EURECA (Enhancing Undergraduate Research Endeavors & Creative Activities) project grew from finding a cost-effective way to relay parking capacity information to an interdisciplinary multi-level project.

Students had heard about the production of a Parking Lot Occupancy Tracking (P-LOT) program in development and expressed an interest in contributing. Project meetings that followed allowed students to select tracks for their contribution. They could work on app development, user interfaces, the mathematics and implementation of machine learning, or contribute new problems to address with machine learning and artificial intelligence. Griffin and Lopez will discuss individual projects worked on by the group and give demonstrations of current software showing image processing and facial recognition, all of which will highlight the variety of skills and achievements obtained by the students.

Faculty Forum is a monthly showcase for the research and creative endeavors of the MSU Texas faculty. It is an opportunity for the campus and Wichita Falls communities to learn, engage, and sometimes discuss the novel ideas and explorations of the talented individuals who teach, discover, and create at MSU Texas. Admission is free and open to all. Contact Jonathan Price by email or call 940-397-4288 for more information.