Joe Beck is a postdoctoral researcher in the Applied Research for Mobility Systems (ARMS) group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where his work focuses on connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technology, advanced driver assistance systems, and transportation security. A native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, he earned his B.S. in Mechatronics Engineering from Middle Tennessee State University before completing both his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Systems and Controls at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. At ORNL, Dr. Beck serves as co-PI on a Department of Energy project developing standardized test procedures for CAV energy consumption and leads development efforts for ADAS feature testing in ORNL’s Connected and Automated Vehicle Environment (CAVE) laboratory. His technical contributions span vehicle-in-the-loop simulation, radar and camera stimulation for production ADAS validation, and generative AI models for synthetic trajectory generation in transportation security applications. Prior to joining ORNL, he contributed to DOE-funded autonomous vehicle safety research as a graduate researcher at UTK, developing drive-by-wire integration, hardware-in-the-loop testing infrastructure, and novel edge-case discovery methodologies in collaboration with ORNL. Dr. Beck’s research has been published in leading journals and conference proceedings including Accident Analysis & Prevention and Neural Computing and Applications, and he has been recognized with a DOE Vehicle Technologies Office Team Award and the Council of University Transportation Centers’ CSCRS Graduate Student of the Year award. His broader technical expertise spans deep learning, time series modeling, computer vision, sensor fusion, and real-time simulation platforms including dSPACE and CARLA.
