SC State cuts ribbon on virtual reality transportation training lab

President Conyers: Cutting-edge training facility creates 'educated workforce'

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — South Carolina State University is poised to train the next generation of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) professionals with the help of nearly $2 million in federal funding. 

University officials cut the ribbon on its SMART (Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation) Virtual Reality Lab following a ceremony on Wednesday morning at the Engineering and Computer Science Complex on campus.

“Drivers that are trained here in South Carolina, they just don't drive in South Carolina. They drive across the nation. So, this will have impact across the country. I'm super excited about our ability to participate in research to mitigate commercial vehicle accidents,” SC State President Alexander Conyers said.

“We intend for this to be a statewide resource. We intend to invite drivers into our lab, provide them training, provide them certificates so that they can take that training and go out and help educate their coworkers until we can get every driver possible through this training,” he said.

The mission of the university's Institute of Business, Environment, Communications and Transportation, or BECT, is to support the university in building and sustaining inclusive programs that foster innovation and educational and career opportunities.

The BECT Institute received a $1.98 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to develop the SMART VR Transportation Lab, a state-of-the-art research and training facility dedicated to advancing safety, efficiency and readiness in the transportation industry.

“This also aligns perfectly with South Carolina State's newly designated R2 designation as a research institution,” Conyers said.

Leading the way in transportation safety

Dr. Barbara Adams, BECT’s executive director and the project’s principal investigator, said the lab is positioned to make the university a leader in commercial driver education and safety. 

“Our state-of-the-art program will leverage virtual reality technology to provide realistic hands-on training in a safe environment. The Smart Lab will directly address the critical need for comprehensive and accessible safety training for drivers,” Adams said. 

“It will provide real-world simulations — scenarios that include navigating complex traffic patterns, responding to hazardous conditions and responding to both internal and external distractions,” she said. 

Adams said the lab will be equipped with three full-scale driver cockpit simulators, along with 15 student workstations to analyze data for research.

“We will also have a portable unit that we will go out into the community, to the schools, to introduce our youth to transportation careers, as well as those here on campus. We will also, in addition to our training, have workshops for educators or transportation professionals, as well as researchers, to engage in research related to transportation and safety issues as it relates to commercial vehicle drivers,” she said.

Each simulator will include 10 or more scenarios and will be equipped with sensors that will capture physiological data, such as heart rate, to indicate how drivers respond and make decisions when faced with fatigue, distractions, aggressive drivers, speed and other situations that can cause roadway accidents.

An asset for SC State's Master of Transportation degree program

The lab is equipped to help the university promote new standards and techniques in the transportation industry, particularly for commercial vehicle drivers.

Nancy Kasamala, who is pursuing her master's degree in transportation engineering at the university, said she hopes the lab will provide a more extensive hands-on view of her academic training.

“Me being in the virtual reality and trying to be at the driver's seat of the CMV will help me to better analyze the crashes and why crashes happen. At the end of the day, I hope to learn more from the lab,” she said.

Dr. Frederick Evans, SC State provost and vice president for academic affairs, noted that the university offers the state's only master's in transportation degree. He said the lab's launch marked “an exciting milestone” at the university.

“We highlight the development of our SMART VR Transportation Lab, a visionary initiative that will significantly advance training, research and workforce readiness in the transportation sector,” he said.

“We are grateful for the collaboration of our transportation and community partners whose commitment and expertise will help strengthen this work. Together we are investing in the next generation of leaders who will shape the future of transportation, government and industry,” Evans said.

Izison Benibo is a transportation engineering major with a focus on traffic safety.

“My focus is traffic engineering. This lab would give us the necessary knowledge to understand the factors that may impair drivers on the road and how to navigate around them,” Benibo said.

Fatigue and alcohol are among those factors.

“We need to know how to react around drivers like that. If you are driving, you want to protect yourself and everyone around you. This lab gives us that knowledge and experience to explore whatever is out there, and the world becomes a better place for us,” Benibo said.

Reducing traffic fatalities in South Carolina

Officials from the state Department of Transportation (SCDOT), State Transport Police, Department of Public Safety and the South Carolina Trucking Association attended the event.

“Our fatal numbers have been decreasing since 2021,” Drew Stokes, a traffic safety engineer at SCDOT, said. “We still have a long way to go. We're averaging about 1,000 fatalities per year. Just to get to the nationwide average, we would need to cut that in half — just to be average.

“It's going to take all of us as professionals and individuals as we get in our car each and every day to lower those fatalities,” Stokes said.

Maj. Lee Catoe, executive officer of the State Transport Police, said, “We're certainly very excited to partner with you. You talk about education, enforcement and engineering, and education is critically important to what we do in terms of crash reduction and fatality reduction.”

Kevin Shwedo, director of the state Department of Motor Vehicles, said, “The combination of innovation and technology are what drives us forward.”

“SC State is leading the statewide effort with commercial motor vehicle safety. This will eventually have worldwide implications,” Shwedo said. “We're not waiting for autonomous vehicles to get here. We're taking the initiative to start now to create better truck drivers for our highways and create safer highways for our families. That's a big deal.”

Taryn Shekitka, director of operations for the South Carolina Trucking Association, said, “We're in a moment where safety, workforce and legal reform are all colliding. That's why we're doing what we're doing today, investing in better training and smarter technology. 

“This program gives drivers something we've never been able to give them in this state at this scale — a safe place to experience high-risk scenarios without putting anyone in danger,” she said. “South Carolina depends on trucking. Our economy depends on trucking. Today, with this program, we're clearly saying you are serious about safety.”