Sonia Chernova

Sonia Chernova

Sonia Chernova

Associate Professor; School of Interactive Computing
Director; Robot Autonomy and Interactive Learning (RAIL) Lab

I am an Associate Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. I received my Ph.D. and B.S. degrees in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, and held positions as a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Media Lab and as Assistant Professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute prior to joining Georgia Tech. I direct the Robot Autonomy and Interactive Learning (RAIL) lab, where we work on developing robots that are able to effectively operate in human environments. My research interests span robotics and artificial intelligence, including semantic reasoning, adjustable autonomy, human computation and cloud robotics. Please visit the RAIL lab website for a description of our latest projects.

chernova@cc.gatech.edu

404.385.4753

Personal Page

  • RAIL Lab
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • Collaborative Robotics
    • Shaping the Human-Technology Frontier
    Additional Research:

    Robotics; Artificial Intelligence; Semantic Reasoning; Adjustable Autonomy; Human Computation and Cloud Robotics.


    IRI Connections:

    Srinivas Aluru

    Srinivas Aluru

    Srinivas Aluru

    Executive Director, Institute for Data Engineering and Science
    Professor, College of Computing
    Co-Lead PI, NSF South Big Data Regional Innovation Hub

    Srinivas Aluru is executive director of the Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS) and professor in the School of Computational Science and Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. He co-leads the NSF South Big Data Regional Innovation Hub which nurtures big data partnerships between organizations in the 16 Southern States and Washington D.C., and the NSF Transdisciplinary Research Institute for Advancing Data Science. Aluru conducts research in high performance computing, large-scale data analysis, bioinformatics and systems biology, combinatorial scientific computing, and applied algorithms. An early pioneer in big data, Aluru led one of the eight inaugural mid-scale NSF-NIH Big Data projects awarded in the first round of federal big data investments in 2012. He has contributed to NITRD and OSTP led white house workshops, and NSF and DOE led efforts to create and nurture research in big data and exascale computing. He is a recipient of the NSF Career award, IBM faculty award, Swarnajayanti Fellowship from the Government of India, the John. V. Atanasoff Discovery Award from Iowa State University, and the Outstanding Senior Faculty Research Award, Dean's award for faculty excellence, and the Outstanding Research Program Development Award at Georgia Tech. He is a Fellow of AAAS, IEEE, and SIAM, and is a recipient of the IEEE Computer Society Golden Core and Meritorious Service awards.

    aluru@cc.gatech.edu

    404.385.1486

    Website

    Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Big Data
    • Computational Materials Science
    • Machine Learning
    Additional Research:

    Bioinformatics; High Performance Computing; Systems Biology; Combinatorial Scientific Computing; Applied Algorithms


    IRI Connections:

    Charlotte S. Alexander

    Charlotte S. Alexander headshot

    Charlotte Alexander

    Professor

    Charlotte S. Alexander is Professor of Law and Ethics at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. Her scholarship focuses on the efficiency, transparency, and openness of the court system, with a particular interest in civil litigation. She uses empirical and computational methods to process large quantities of legal data and uncover patterns in case filing, progress, and resolution. She has an additional research interest in employment law and litigation.

    Alexander received her B.A. from Columbia University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was elected president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. After law school, she clerked for Judge Nancy Gertner of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and then served as a Skadden Fellow and senior staff attorney at Georgia Legal Services’ Farmworker Rights Division.

    Alexander’s work is published or forthcoming in a wide variety of peer reviewed and law journals, including Science, the N.Y.U. Law Review, Texas Law Review, Northwestern Law Review, American Business Law Journal, Industrial Relations, Yale Journal of Law and Technology, and the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. She has received research funding from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Labor, and private foundations. In 2023, she worked as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar with the Justice Innovation Lab of the National Judicial Training College in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on projects involving court delays and access to justice.

    charlotte.alexander@scheller.gatech.edu

    404-413-9000

    Office Location:
    Scheller 4124

    Law, Data, and Design Lab

  • Scheller Profile
  • University, College, and School/Department

    IRI Connections:
    IRI And Role

    Stephen W. Harmon

    Stephen Harmon headshot

    Stephen Harmon

    Associate Dean of Research, Professional Education
    Executive Director, Center for 21st Century Universities
    Professor, School of Industrial Design

    Dr. Stephen Harmon serves as associate dean of research at Georgia Tech Professional Education (GTPE), executive director for the Center for 21st Century Universities (C21U), and as professor at the Georgia Tech College of Design. At GTPE and C21U, he leads the invention, prototyping, and validation efforts associated with educational innovation and with managing facilities available to all Georgia Tech researchers and faculty members.

    His previous position was professor and chair of the Learning Technologies Division in the College of Education and Human Development at Georgia State University.

    After majoring in English literature at Furman University, Dr. Harmon moved to Upper Egypt to teach fourth-grade English for two years. While traveling through the Middle East and Africa, he realized the tremendous need, and scarce resources, for education and training in developing countries. He returned to the U.S. and earned a masters and doctorate in instructional technology, with a cognate in global policy studies, from the University of Georgia.

    Dr. Harmon’s research centers on educational uses of emerging technologies and has, for the last few years, focused on eLearning, particularly with respect to synchronous, online learning environments. He is a past president of the Association of Educational Communications and Technology, an international professional association of thousands of educators and others whose activities are directed toward improving instruction through technology. 

    Dr. Harmon also conducts research on educational technology in developing countries. He has worked in several Middle Eastern and African countries, including as a consultant for USAID’s Education for Development and Democracy Initiative in Botswana.

    Dr. Harmon has over 120 professional publications and presentations and was the 2011 recipient of Georgia State University’s Innovative Instruction Award. He was the spring 2016 commencement speaker at Georgia Southern University.

    swharmon@gatech.edu

    Professional Education Profile

  • Industrial Design Profile
  • C21U Profile
  • University, College, and School/Department

    IRI Connections:
    IRI And Role

    Robert Wright

    Robert Wright

    Robert Wright

    Senior Research Scientist

    Robert Wright is a GTRI Senior Research Scientist in the Assured Software and Information Division within the CIPHER laboratory. He has been with GTRI since 2021 and leads research efforts in trustworthy autonomous systems. Wright started his career as a civilian research scientist for the Air Force Research Laboratory where he developed technologies and programs for autonomous command and control systems (2003-2016). In 2014, Wright received his Ph.D. in computer science from Binghamton University for his work in developing RL algorithms that learn efficiently from experience Prior to GTRI (2016-2021), Wright was a principal scientist for Assured Information Security where he was a PI for a number of DARPA and Air Force Research Laboratory efforts researching RL and AI techniques. His work has been published in many top venues and was awarded “Best Paper” at the 2013 European Conference on ML. 

    Robert.Wright@gtri.gatech.edu

    Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Autonomous systems
    • Cybersecurity Public Policy
    • Trustworthy AI/ML
    Additional Research:

    Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Reinforcement Learning, Generative ML, Adversarial Learning, Multi-Agent Systems, Attribution


    IRI Connections:
    IRI And Role

    Ashok Goel

    Ashok Goel

    Ashok Goel

    Professor; School of Interactive Computing
    Director| Ph.D. program in Human-Centered Computing; College of Computing
    Co-Director; Center for Biologically Inspired Design
    Fellow; Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems

    Ashok Goel is a Professor of Computer Science in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA. He obtained his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. At Georgia Tech, he is also the Director of the Ph.D. Program in Human-Centered Computing, a Co-Director of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design, and a Fellow of Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems. For more than thirty years, Ashok has conducted research into artificial intelligence, cognitive science and human-centered computing, with a focus on computational design, modeling and creativity. His recent work has explored design thinking, analogical thinking and systems thinking in biological inspired design (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiRDQ4hr9i8), and his research is now developing virtual research assistants for modeling biological systems. Ashok teaches a popular course on knowledge-based AI as part of Georgia Tech's program on Online Masters of Science in Computer Science. He has pioneered the development of virtual teaching assistants, such as Jill Watson, for answering questions in online discussion forums (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbCguICyfTA). Chronicle of Higher Education recently called virtual assistants exemplified by Jill Watson as one of the most transformative educational technologies in the digital era. Ashok is the Editor-in-Chief of AAAI's AI Magazine.

    ashok.goel@cc.gatech.edu

    Office Location:
    GVU/TSRB

    Design & Intelligence Laboratory

    Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Human Augmentation
    • Platforms and Services for Socio-Technical Frontier
    • Shaping the Human-Technology Frontier
    Additional Research:

    Artificial Intelligence; Cognitive Science; Computational Design; Computational Creativity; Educational Technology; Design Science; Learning Science and Technology; Human-Centered Computing


    IRI Connections:

    Aaron Levine

    Aaron Levine

    Aaron Levine

    Associate Professor
    Guest Researcher, Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

    Aaron D. Levine is Associate Dean for Research and Outreach in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and Professor in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech. He also holds an appointment as a Guest Researcher in the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is a member of the leadership team for the NSF Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies (CMaT), leading ethics and policy research for the center. He seved as Co-Director for CMaT's Engineering Workforce Development activities from 2017 to 2022. His research focuses on the intersection between public policy and bioethics. Much of his work has examined the development of stem cell science, particularly research using human embryonic stem cells, and the translation of novel cell therapies. He also writes extensively on the oversight of contentious areas of medicine, such as assisted reproductive technology. In 2012, he received a NSF CAREER award to examine the impact of ethical controversy on graduate science education and the development of scientific careers.  He serves as Vice-Chair for Bioethics on the International Society for Cell & Genel Therapy’s Committee on the Ethics of Cell and Gene Therapy and recently completed a three-year term as an elected member of the Board of Directors of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. He is also a long-time member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

    Aaron has a long-standing interest in science communication and is the author of Cloning: A Beginner's Guide (Oneworld Publications, 2007), an accessible introduction to the science of cloning and embryonic stem cells and the ethical and policy controversies this science inspires. He was an AAAS Leshner Leadership Institute Public Engagement Fellow for 2019-2020. You can follow Aaron on twitter at @aarondlevine.

    He completed his Ph.D. in Public Affairs at Princeton University, where his dissertation research examined the impact of public policy on the development of human embryonic stem cell science.  He also holds an M. Phil. from the University of Cambridge, where, as a Churchill Scholar, he studied computational biology at the Sanger Centre and developed algorithms to help analyze the human genome sequence, and a B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar.

    aaron.levine@pubpolicy.gatech.edu

    404-385-3329

    Office Location:
    DM Smith 216

    Website

  • Related Site
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Policy & Economics
    • Regenerative Medicine
    Additional Research:

    The impact of ethical controversy on scientific research, with a particular emphasis on emerging biomedical technologies.Recent work has focused on a range of issues related to stem cell policy (including state-level science policy and the rise of unproven stem cell therapies) as well as the oversight of assisted reproduction.


    IRI Connections:

    Charles David Sherrill

    Charles David Sherrill

    Charles David Sherrill

    Interim Executive Director, Institute for Data Engineering and Science
    Regents Professor, School Chemistry and Biochemistry

    Research in the Sherrill group focuses on the development of ab initio electronic structure theory and its application to problems of broad chemical interest, including the influence of non-covalent interactions in drug binding, biomolecular structure, organic crystals, and organocatalytic transition states. We seek to apply the most accurate quantum models possible for a given problem, and we specialize in generating high-quality datasets for testing new methods or machine-learning purposes. We have developed highly efficient algorithms and software to perform symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) computations of intermolecular interactions, and we have used this software to analyze the nature of non-covalent pi-interactions in terms of electrostatics, London dispersion forces, induction/polarization, and short range exchange-repulsion. 

    sherrill@gatech.edu

    404.894.4037

    Office Location:
    MS&E 2100N

    Chem & Bio Chem Profile Page

  • Sherrill Group
  • Google Scholar

    University, College, and School/Department
    Research Focus Areas:
    • Computational Materials Science
    Additional Research:

    Data Analytics; Parallel Quantum Chemistry; Drug Delivery


    IRI Connections:

    Larry Heck

    Larry Heck

    Larry Heck

    Professor
    Rhesa Screven Farmer Jr., Advanced Computing Concepts Chair
    Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar

    Larry P. Heck is a Professor with a joint appointment in the Schools of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He holds the Rhesa S. Farmer Distinguished Chair of Advanced Computing Concepts and is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. His received the BSEE from Texas Tech University (1986), and MSEE and PhD EE from the Georgia Institute of Technology (1989,1991). He is a Fellow of the IEEE, inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni at Georgia Tech and received the Distinguished Engineer Award from the Texas Tech University. He was a Senior Research Engineer with SRI (1992-98), VP of R&D at Nuance (1998-2005), VP of Search and Advertising Sciences at Yahoo! (2005-2009), Chief Scientist of the Microsoft Speech products and Distinguished Engineer in Microsoft Research (2009-2014), Principal Scientist with Google Research (2014-2017), CEO of Viv Labs and SVP at Samsung (2017-2021).

    larryheck@gatech.edu

    College Website

    Google Scholar

    University, College, and School/Department
    Research Focus Areas:
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • Conversational systems
    • Machine Learning
    • Natural language processing (NLP)
    • Speech/speaker recognition

    IRI Connections: