From AI-Driven Traffic Systems to Hydroponic Greenhouses, Engineering Students are Designing Solutions

June 4, 2026

By Christi Mays

Downtown Belton traffic may not rival the gridlock of Austin at rush hour, but it only takes sitting a dozen cars deep at 5:15 p.m. (waiting through multiple light cycles) on Main Street for patience to begin wearing thin. It’s the kind of frustration most drivers learn to tolerate. But for senior engineering majors Clayton Johnson and Jesse McCaslin, those routine traffic jams sparked an idea.