FAU Engineering’s Ubicquia Innovation Center to Open in Spring

Ubicquia Innovation Center for Intelligent Infrastructure

By gisele galoustian | 1/15/2026

Announcement Snapshot: FAU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science is establishing the Ubicquia Innovation Center for Intelligent Infrastructure (UICII) following a $1.5 million gift from the Aaron Family Foundation and Ubicquia, Inc. Opening this spring, the center will advance AI-enabled, data-driven infrastructure and build on FAU’s existing smart-infrastructure research and partnerships, including its leadership role in the National Science Foundation’s Smart Streetscapes initiative.

Jason Hallstrom, Ph.D., professor of electrical engineering and computer science and executive director of FAU’s Sensing Institute, has been appointed to lead UICII. The center positions FAU as a national model for collaboration among academia, industry, cities and philanthropy to deliver scalable solutions that improve communities while educating future engineers and computer scientists.

The College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University is establishing the Ubicquia Innovation Center for Intelligent Infrastructure (UICII) following a $1.5 million philanthropic gift from the Aaron Family Foundation and Ubicquia, Inc. The center, which will officially open this spring, will serve as a flagship platform for advancing intelligent, artificial intelligence-enabled infrastructure through pioneering, edge intelligence, and data-driven analytics.

“The Ubicquia Innovation Center for Intelligent Infrastructure represents a major strategic investment in the future of the College of Engineering and Computer Science,” said Stella Batalama, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. “This gift allows us to intentionally build a center that connects research excellence with real-world deployment at scale.”

UICII builds on a strong foundation of smart-infrastructure research already underway within the college. Over the past several years, faculty and students in the College of Engineering and Computer Science have collaborated with the City of West Palm Beach and other partners to explore technologies that improve the safety, efficiency, and livability of public spaces. This work contributed to FAU’s co-leading role in the multi-institutional National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Smart Streetscapes (CS3).

As part of the establishment and launch of UICII, Batalama has appointed Jason Hallstrom, Ph.D., a professor in the FAU Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and executive director of FAU's Sensing Institute, as the inaugural director of UICII.

“I could not have found a better person to direct the Ubicquia Innovation Center for Intelligent Infrastructure,” said Batalama. “I was truly happy when Dr. Hallstrom accepted my offer. His leadership as FAU’s lead investigator in the NSF Engineering Research Center for Smart Streetscapes and his longstanding role guiding our collaboration with the City of West Palm Beach provide a strong foundation as we launch this new center.”

The UICII establishes FAU as a national model for how universities, cities, industry and philanthropy can work together to deliver scalable, data-driven solutions that serve communities today while shaping the intelligent infrastructure of tomorrow.

“I am honored by the opportunity to lead the Ubicquia Innovation Center for Intelligent Infrastructure,” said Hallstrom. “This center creates a unique platform to translate research into scalable solutions that benefit communities while educating the next generation of engineers and computer scientists.”

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