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 a major autonomous vehicle competition
  • 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 various government agencies
  • 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 U.S. military
  • Awarded fellow by major professional engineering societies 

Related Experts

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of cases can this expert support?

They can support cases on autonomous vehicles, UAVs, sensor fusion, and aerospace/defense systems. Industrial controls and signal processing are also in scope. Litigation readiness is unknown, though, so you'd need to ask about deposition and courtroom experience.

What is this expert's technical background?

PhD in control and estimation from MIT, plus a master's in aeronautics there. Thirty years spanning industry and academia—started with Space Shuttle dynamics work in the 1990s, led a DARPA Urban Challenge team, and built a research program around autonomous systems. Advised 70+ PhD students and published over 200 papers.

What technologies does this expert specialize in?

Autonomous vehicles and self-driving cars, computer vision, machine learning, sensor fusion, and UAVs. Navigation and geolocation systems too. The sensor fusion and perception side is particularly strong—that's been a through-line in both their industry and academic work.