Bringing Work to School to Solve Real-World Challenges

Dupri Grimes discovered his passion for engineering while building a battle robot in a class in high school.

Now he is using his engineering skills and AI to help his employer’s clients manage their engineering needs. Their clients are often municipalities or private companies that have water, communication, oil and gas infrastructure projects. 

Grimes said working full-time while getting his master’s degree was hard, but he had a lot of support from his bosses. He was also able to apply what he was learning in school to his job in real time and was able to bring his questions from work to school. 

“In my wireless communications class, I actually brought in one of our radios to show the configuration and software, and our professor actually walked me through every single setting and what each one did,” Grimes said. 

“I think getting a master’s degree is 100 percent worth the costs. From a professional standpoint, it’s really helped me out in my job, and I’ve been able to help our customers a lot more.” 

Grimes is now also prepared for new areas of scientific innovation. In a class on artificial intelligence for engineering applications, he trained an AI model to recognize different objects. He was then able to apply this knowledge for a client by developing an AI program that would monitor camera footage for trespassers and to alert the police and the client if anyone is on the property. Grimes sees how using AI programs for engineering could have many potentials for their clients, like increasing safety. 

“In Texas we have crazy thunderstorms and in August of 2021, lightning hit a gas and oil facility, and it blew up,” Grimes said. “I want to use an AI program to detect when there is lightning from the security cameras so we can alert the facility to keep an eye out or to evacuate people in case lightning strikes. We can use this to remotely monitor facilities for safety purposes.” 

Grimes said that working full time while getting his master’s was helpful because he was able to tie so much of what he was learning to his job and feels that it has already impacted his career. 

“I think getting a master’s degree is 100 percent worth the costs. From a professional standpoint, it’s really helped me out in my job, and I’ve been able to help our customers a lot more.”