Ronald C. Arkin received the B.S. Degree from the University of Michigan, the M.S. Degree from Stevens Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1987. He then assumed the position of Assistant Professor in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he now holds the rank of Regents' Professor and is the Director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory. He also serves as the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech since October 2008. During 1997-98, Professor Arkin served as STINT visiting Professor at the Centre for Autonomous Systems at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. From June-September 2005, Prof. Arkin held a Sabbatical Chair at the Sony Intelligence Dynamics Laboratory in Tokyo, Japan and then served as a member of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Group at LAAS/CNRS in Toulouse, France from October 2005-August 2006.

Erturk began at Georgia Tech in May 2011 as an Assistant Professor, he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2016 and became a full Professor in 2019. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, he worked as a Research Scientist in the Center for Intelligent Material Systems and Structures at Virginia Tech (2009-2011). His postdoctoral research interests included theory and experiments of smart structures for applications ranging from aeroelastic energy harvesting to bio-inspired actuation. His Ph.D. dissertation (2009) was centered on experimentally validated electromechanical modeling of piezoelectric energy harvesters using analytical and approxIMaTe analytical techniques. Prior to his Ph.D. studies in Engineering Mechanics at Virginia Tech, Erturk completed his M.S. degree (2006) in Mechanical Engineering at METU with a thesis on analytical and semi-analytical modeling of spindle-tool dynamics in machining centers for predicting chatter stability and identifying interface dynamics between the assembly components.

Rusty Roberts is the Director of the Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems (ATAS) Laboratory at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). ATAS develops advanced systems concepts, builds system prototypes, and performs research on technologies related to aerospace, transportation, power and energy, threat systems, and food processing. A nationally recognized expert in test and evaluation, Roberts has held the position of the President of the International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA). He also started and presently leads a GTRI-wide test and evaluation initiative that brought together the resources to provide Science & Technology support to the Office of the Secretary of Defense Test Resource Management Center. Mr. Roberts has also worked with U.S. government officials to establish key requirements for the testing of U.S. electronic countermeasures against surface-to-air missile threats and has been able to provide solutions developed by GTRI. Solutions included the threat replica of a medium range surface-to-air missile (SAM) acquisition radar for the U.S. Army and the Advanced Airborne Interceptor Simulator (AAIS) for the U.S. Air Force. He also led the efforts that developed the Missle-on-a-Mountain program at the Electronic Combat Range in China Lake, California. This one-of-a-kind simulation facility has been called a key national asset in testing electronic countermeasures against surface-to-air missle systems. The facility is in high demand by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and allied air forces. Prior to joining GTRI, Mr. Roberts served as an active duty U.S. Army Signal Corps officer for ten years, with assignments at Fort Gordon, GA and Kaiserslautern, Germany. His last assignment was at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering teaching Electronic Circuit Design. During his tour at West Point he became the Course Director for the Senior-level, two-semester electronics course for the Department. Mr. Roberts continued to serve in the Army Reserve after leaving Active Duty while at GTRI. Roberts holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from West Point, a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Maste

Dr. Koki Ho is the Dutton-Ducoffe Professor, an Associate Professor, and the director of the Space Systems Optimization Group in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. His research focuses on developing modeling and optimization methods for rigorous space mission analysis and design. Some of his specific research interests include (1) network modeling for campaign-level space mission design; (2) optimization and probabilistic modeling for in-space logistics infrastructure design and operations; (3) design, deployment, and maintenance of mega-scale satellite constellations; and (4) sensor management for space domain awareness. His unique research connecting logistics-based modeling, optimization, systems engineering, and space applications has provided a substantial impact on modern and future space missions that involve multiple missions, multiple vehicles, and reusable infrastructure elements. Dr. Ho earned his Ph.D. at MIT and his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Tokyo. He is the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2020), the NASA Early Career Faculty Award (2019), the DARPA Young Faculty Award (2019), and the Luigi Napolitano Award (2015), and he is a co-author of one of the most downloaded Acta Astronautica articles. Dr. Ho served as the Chair of the AIAA Space Logistics Technical Committee in 2017-2024 and currently serves on the Steering Committee for the NASA-funded Consortium for Space Mobility and In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing Capabilities (COSMIC).

Education

• B.Eng., Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009, University of Tokyo;
• M.Eng., Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2011, University of Tokyo;
• Ph.D., Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2015, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Distinctions & Awards

Honors:

• 2020 NSF CAREER Award
• 2019 DARPA Young Faculty Award
• 2019 NASA Early Career Faculty Award
• 2015 Luigi Napolitano Award

Wei Xu is an associate professor in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Xu received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from New York University, and her B.S. and M.S. from Tsinghua University. Her research interests are in natural language processing, machine learning, and social media. Her recent work focuses on text generation, stylistics, information extraction, robustness and controllability of machine learning models, and reading and writing assistive technology. She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, CrowdFlower AI for Everyone Award, Criteo Faculty Research Award, and Best Paper Award at COLING'18. She has also received funds from DARPA and IARPA and is part of the Machine Learning Center and NSF AI CARING Institute at Georgia Tech.

Stuart Michelson is a member of the research faculty at the Georgia Tech Research Institute and is known as a subject matter expert in Human Systems Engineering. He leads Human Factors and Ergonomics and Human Systems Integration (HSI) efforts for DoD customers specializing in tactical display design spanning command and control, training, unmanned vehicle ground control stations, Manned-unmanned teaming, and mission planning. He has expertise in digital human modeling/ergonomic/anthropometric analyses to assess cockpit accommodation and experience with wearable soldier systems and tactical equipment design.

Since 2000, Michelson has organized the American venue and annual Symposium on Dynamic Flight Behavior for Aerial Robotics for the International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC), the longest running collegiate aerial challenge in the world focused on advancing the state of the art in aerial robotic behavior.

Michelson has held an Associate Human Factors Professional status from the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics, is recognized as a graphic design professional by the International Academy of Computer Training, and is certified to conduct ethical Human Subjects Research.

Michelson has supported and led numerous programs within the Georgia Tech Research Institute leveraging his knowledge of soldier loadout and autonomous unmanned systems. Notably, he has designed graphical user interfaces, developed human-centered system requirements, led programs to quantify human performance, assessed anthropometric accommodations, and supported system test and evaluation for DoD stakeholders spanning the United States Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps.

Eric Feron is a professor of Electrical, Computer, and Mechanical Engineering. He is the director of the Robotics, Intelligent Systems, and Control (RISC) Laboratory. He recently joined the KAUST CEMSE Division from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to his time at Georgia Tech, he was an active faculty member in MIT's Aeronautics and Astronautics department from 1993 until 2005. Feron’s career in academia began in Paris, France, where he obtained his B.S. and M.S. from École Polytechnique and École Normale Superieure, respectively. He later completed his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at Stanford University, U.S. 

Feron's research interests center around the use of elementary concepts of control systems, optimization and computer science to address key issues in modern robotic systems. More specifically, aerobatic control of uncrewed aerial vehicles, multi-agent operations, including air traffic control systems and safety-critical software system certification. Feron is also interested in geometric control systems and control theory in general. Among his latest projects, there are a fractal drone, a few positioning systems, a wheel nature could have invented, and a self-reproducing 3D printer. 

Feron has always taught at least one course per semester since the onset of his academic career. Feron believes teaching offers a fantastic outlet to communicate display his past research and inspire his new research projects with the thoughts of his classroom students. He has taught subjects as diverse as cyber-physical systems, control systems, operations research, linear programming, software engineering, and flight mechanics. Feron is a strong proponent and author of quality online education products. He also believes in communicating knowledge through all available mechanisms, including analytical and experimental, acknowledging the multiple learning modalities preferred by students, undergraduate and graduate.