Advancing AI From the cover
Zooming in
What's happening?
“Those things multiply like crazy, they eat all the vegetation, and get in the way of the tractors.” Additionally, Ramos said he expects the incom- ing business program—one of the college’s largest programs—to touch Fort Bend campuses. HCC is not alone as other schools in the area are working to implement such programs as well. At the University of Houston—which does not have a distinct major for AI—the school is working with professors to implement the tool into courses, said Teresa Acosta, UH director for faculty and depart- mental instructional support.
While the new AI program will be stationed at HCC’s Southwest College—located inside the 610 loop—students have already made an impact in Fort Bend County, HCC Southwest College President Michael Webster said. A group of HCC students were finalists in a NASA competition, with an entry focused on the west side of the county that saw the development of a drone that used AI lidar—a sensing method that sends pulses of laser light to determine the presence, shape and distance of objects—to find feral hogs in ranches, Webster said. “It’s a big problem on the ranches,” Webster said.
Houston City College o cially took on its new name June 18—after 54 years as Houston Community College—re ecting the growth of the institution. The name change comes after the college launched its rst two baccalaureate degree programs focusing on arti cial intelligence and robotics, as well as health care management, Community Impact reported. Now, following the success of the programs, the college is bringing in three new four- year programs in computer information systems, business and nursing—with the rst two expected to launch in spring 2027 and the latter in 2028, said Miguel Ramos, vice chancellor for instructional services at HCC. “We de nitely want to provide as many opportunities for student learning as possible,” Ramos said. With ve baccalaureate programs, the college will be utilizing the full extent allowed by the state to help ll gaps in the area’s labor market, Ramos said. In the AI sector, that gap sits at tens of millions, with only 8.7 million nationwide currently learning AI-based skills compared to the 57 million interested, according to higher education marketing and research rm Validated Insights. That number shrinks to only 7,000 when limited only to AI education from higher education institutions. As of early 2025, only about 2.5% of institutions o ered a bachelor’s in AI despite high interest, Validated Insights found.
Hog Aerial Mitigation System statistics HAMS is designed to employ two types of swarming drones to surveil agricultural land to spot and cull feral swine.
TUSC: Thermal Updraft Surveillance Craft
MUDSS: Multirotor Unmanned Drone Shepherding Swarm
Parameter
L x W x H
180 inches x 40 inches x 20 inches 12 inches x 12 inches x 6.25 inches
Weight
20 pounds + 11-pound payload
3.9 pounds
Technologies
AI computer vision, autonomous flight, movement prediction system, thermal detection system, telemetry, vertical take-off landing
Autonomous flight (partial), telemetry, object detection, sonic device
Operation use
Network relay, hog identification Hog deterrence and herding
SOURCE: HOG AERIAL MITIGATION SYSTEM REPORT/COMMUNITY IMPACT
HCC's new bachelor programs
By the numbers
Bachelor's degree in computer information, to include specialties like cybersecurity artificial intelligence and provide students to support the growing need for tech professionals across industries Bachelor's degree in business, a program with a focus on finance, marketing, real estate and management to corporations like the Texas Medical Center Bachelor of Science in Nursing, which prepares students for licensure as registered nurses through coursework in health sciences and hands-on clinical training to meet the health care industry labor market needs
college enrollment continues to rise—with a 4% increase in reported enrollment in fall 2025, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. HCC is among those risers, with a 95,401 enrollment total in the 2024-25 school year, according to college statistics.
HCC’s AI program, which officially launched in 2020 as the first industry community college asso- ciate degree and in 2023 as a bachelor’s degree, has quickly exploded, with 59 students enrolled for the 2026 academic year—up from 14 in the 2024 academic year, HCC officials said. And while AI is not the only factor, community
Enrollment in HCC's AI program
59
0 20 40 60
38
14
+55.26%
2025
2026
2024
SOURCE: HOUSTON CITY COLLEGECOMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: HOUSTON CITY COLLEGE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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