Team GatorWings Takes First Place in DARPA SC2

In the culmination of a three-year competition cycle, Team GatorWings beat ten other teams in the DARPA Spectrum Collaboration Challenge (SC2) to win first place, taking home a $2M prize.

The SC2 is a three-year long tournament designed to generate new wireless paradigms and access strategies in which radio networks enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI) will autonomously collaborate and reason about how to share the increasingly congested electromagnetic (EM) spectrum.

The saga began in December of 2017 when Team GatorWings placed in the Top 10 in Phase I. The team then was one of six winners in Phase II, coming in fifth place.

The final phase of the three-year competition, held in Los Angeles on Oct. 23, pitted ten teams against each other in a bid to unlock the potential of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum using artificial intelligence (AI). Despite almost being eliminated twice in knockout rounds, Team GatorWings’ AI system autonomously kept its cool and promptly rocketed to the top of the standings in the final round, proving to be unbeatable. Though the team members collectively maintained their composure, spirits must have been high.

Team GatorWings is comprised of:

  • Tan Wong (ECE Faculty, Team Lead)
  • John Shea (ECE Faculty)
  • David Greene (Ph.D. student)
  • Tyler Ward (Ph.D. student)
  • Caleb Bowyer (Ph.D. student)
  • Marco Menendez (Undergraduate)

A number of students also contributed in previous phases of the competition:

  • Quan Pham (previously undergraduate, currently MS student)
  • Joshua Agarth (BS/MS, graduated)
  • Shiming Deng (undergrad, graduated)

Further details are available on the SC2 website.

Join ECE Florida in congratulating Team GatorWings!