Professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering with more than three decades of experience in industry and academia.   Has significant expertise in distributed networks and sensor fusion, perception, machine learning, and planning and optimization.  Research interests include the theory and experimental validation of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems, including self-driving cars, aircraft, spacecraft, and robots.

Formal Education

  • Ph.D. in Control and Estimation, MIT
  • M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT
  • B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Career Highlights

  • Led a university self-driving car team that was one of just six teams to finish the race in DARPA’s Urban Challenge
  • As an academic, led research programs with broad, strong impact in aerospace and robotic systems, including formation flying spacecraft, cooperative unmanned aerial vehicles, and self-driving cars 
  • Recipient of multiple collaborative research grants from sponsors including National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, DARPA, and U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • While in industry, worked on sensor fusion for small UAV geolocation
  • Also worked on sensor fusion, machine learning and perception in autonomous vehicles for industry
  • As a professor, advised more than seventy PhD students and postdocs and authored over 200 published papers 
  • Responsible for the modeling and design of many of the 500 on-orbit multivariable control experiments for the Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE) dynamics and control laboratory, which flew on the Space Shuttle in the 1990s
  • Recipient of an Award for Exceptional Public Service from the office of the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force
  • Awarded fellow by the IEEE, AIAA, and ASME