09/04/2026
Engineering in Action: Lilly George
This summer, Lilly George traded her office chair and desktop computer for the passenger seat.
She spent 10 weeks working with MITRE’s Autonomous and Intelligent Systems Department to create and conduct tests to measure how sensors used to operate autonomous vehicles respond to extreme temperatures. The broader goal of her project, she said, is to determine what safety inspections need to be added to ensure safe operation of autonomous trucks for deployment in rural routes that often experience harsh, cold weather and make trucking a dangerous endeavor.
“It was a lot of on-the-go problem solving,” Lilly, a UVA mechanical engineering student, said. “For instance, one of the wires for a sensor I was working with was shorter than I expected, so I had to figure it out right then and there to keep the project moving.”
But for Lilly, the experience was about more than getting hands-on robotics experience.
“This summer helped me gain confidence in my career goals and what I want to pursue after graduation,” she said. “Going into my fourth year, there are a lot of big decisions that come up and this experience has helped me decide what direction I want to take my career.”
She highly encourages anyone with the opportunity for an internship to take it.
“If you’re given the opportunity to try something new or try a new path, I think you should take it,” she said.
