Zeyi Lin begins with an understatement: “Austin has grown.” And, as he says, “traffic is not going to magically get better.” Austin is infamous for traffic. A 30-minute commute takes 50 minutes during rush hour, on a good day.
Growing up in Austin, senior Zeyi Lin knows the frustration of sitting on I-35 after a long day. During the past decade, as the city grew rapidly, Lin experienced more traffic everywhere he went.
Combining his two majors — electrical and computer engineering and the humanities-focused Plan II Honors program — Lin became interested in the ethics of engineering. How might it be used as a force for good? How could engineering help solve big problems for fellow Texans?
So with funding from the Texas Department of Transportation and guidance from Dr. Joydeep Ghosh, Lin set about researching ways to make driving safer and more efficient. His team developed a sensor system to detect objects around cars and track where and why traffic congestion happens. The hope, Lin says, is that their findings will help the state better understand how to improve infrastructure and decrease traffic on Texas roadways.
Lin says his UT education has helped him better understand traffic and how innovation can help us find a way out of the traffic mess.
