NSF-TRACE Testbed Workshop Spring 2026

Friday, April 24, 2026 (8:00 AM — 7:00 PM)

Information Technology and Engineering Building (ITE 459)
1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, Maryland 21250
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Co-Organizers: Nirmalya Roy (UMBC), Nalini Venkatasubramanian (UC Irvine) & Sharad Mehrotra (UC Irvine)

Test Bed Program Manager: Anuradha Ravi (UMBC)

Web Developer & Content Lead: Milind Rampure (UMBC)

Vision

TRACE envisions a scalable, AI-driven, multimodal, human-centered testbed that strengthens disaster resilience and accelerates emergency response and recovery. We integrate robotics (UAVs, UGVs, USVs), IoT sensing (RGB, LiDAR, mmWave, audio), and social signals with trustworthy AI to detect life signs, assess damage, and coordinate teams in rugged, network-denied settings. TRACE advances navigation, multi-agent communication, and virtual-physical co-simulation for realistic training and evaluation. With human-in-the-loop feedback and ethical safeguards, TRACE turns streaming spatio-temporal data into actionable awareness, measurable resilience, and faster, safer decisions. More Information about the TRACE Test Bed is available at https://cypress.umbc.edu/testbed/trace/

Program Agenda

The TRACE Workshop brings together researchers and practitioners for a day of technical presentations, panel discussions, live testbed demonstrations, and poster sessions, fostering collaboration around AI-driven robotic platforms for disaster resilience and emergency response.

Venue & Directions Details:

UMBC Information Technology and Engineering (ITE) Building

College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT)

Department of Information Systems

Room: ITE 459

Parking Details:

Visitor parking is available at ‘Pay-to-Park’ lots. Visitors pay at the pay station and must properly enter their license plate information at the pay station. Please note, receipts are no longer required.

Pay Stations for visitor ‘Pay-to-Park’ spaces are ADA compliant and visitors with a disabled plate/placard will need to pay when parking in these areas.

Visitor parking spaces are located at Administration Drive Garage upper level, Commons Garage first level, Walker Avenue Garage upper level, Lot 9 and Lot 7 on Walker Avenue.

Visitor parking is $2.00 per hour and payable by MasterCard, Visa or exact currency, no change or refunds provided. Visitor parking is enforced Monday-Friday from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm.

USE THE APP TO PAY!

Visitors may now use the Passport Parking App or Park Mobile to pay for parking. Simply download the app and you can pay with your phone or device. Paying to park has never been easier.

link the campus parking map PDF