Jan 30, 2025
Celebrating Excellence in Transportation Research and Leadership at CARNATIONS
Dawson Beatty Named 2024 U.S. DOT Student of the Year
Dawson Beatty, a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Tech and a Graduate Research Assistant with CARNATIONS, has been honored with the prestigious 2024 U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Student of the Year (SOTY) Award. This national recognition celebrates Dawson’s exceptional academic achievement, research contributions, leadership, and dedication to advancing innovation in the field of transportation.
Since joining CARNATIONS in October 2023, Dawson has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to solving real-world transportation challenges. His research focuses on resilient Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technologies—a critical area for ensuring safety and continuity in connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) applications. Working remotely from Blacksburg, Virginia, Dawson collaborates with a network of researchers and practitioners across the country to help build the next generation of secure and reliable multimodal transportation systems.
A key aspect of Dawson’s work has involved exploring advanced GNSS spoofing detection and sensor fusion, integrating inertial navigation systems and AI-driven signal processing to enhance system robustness in GNSS-denied environments such as tunnels and urban canyons. His innovative approach not only contributes to academic knowledge but also aligns with U.S. DOT priorities in cybersecurity, automation, and transportation resilience.
"Being named Student of the Year by the U.S. DOT is an incredible honor," said Dawson. "It reflects the support I’ve received from my mentors at Virginia Tech and CARNATIONS. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work on research that has the potential to truly impact transportation safety and infrastructure."
Dawson’s award was presented at the 2025 CUTC Annual Awards Ceremony during the Transportation Research Board (TRB) meeting in Washington, D.C., where he was recognized alongside other top students from across the nation. His achievement stands as a testament to the high-impact work being conducted at Virginia Tech and through the CARNATIONS consortium.
CARNATIONS congratulates Dawson on this well-deserved honor and looks forward to his continued contributions to the future of intelligent and secure transportation systems.
