Organizers

Panelist Bios

Prof. Robin Murphy is a Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department with a joint appointment in Cognitive and Neural Sciences in the Department of Psychology. From 1992 to 1998, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at the Colorado School of Mines. Prof. Murphy joined USF in 1998, and in Jan., 2002, she became Director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue. In March 2003, she helped start the industry/university cooperative research center on Safety Security Rescue (SSR-RC) with the University of Minnesota and is the overall director. In 2005, the Institute for Safety Security Rescue Technologies was established as the umbrella organization for CRASAR, SSR-RC, and related interdisciplinary research, with Murphy as the overall director.

Hui Min Huang is a software/mechanical engineer with NIST for over 18 years and conducts research on software architectures and system analysis and design methods for intelligent systems including unmanned vehicles. Currently focuses on architectural standards and performance issues. Leads a cross Government and Industry Ad Hoc working group called Autonomy Levels for Unmanned Systems (ALFUS). Serves on the SAE AS-4 Executive Committee and Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS) Strategic Planning Committee. Participates in the ASTM International committee on Homeland Security Applications and develops performance related standards for Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) robots, leads a terminology task group. Represents NIST in other architectural standards efforts including the U.S. Army Weapon Systems Technical Architecture Working Group (WSTAWG) and the OMG robotics group. Developed a UML implementation reference model and co-developed an ADL based model for the NIST 4D/RCS reference architecture. Published over 50 papers/book chapters and served on program committees and as session chairs for various conferences. Holds M.S. degrees in computer science and mechanical engineering.

Dr. Jonathan Roberts is a Principal Research Scientist with the CSIRO ICT Centre. His research interests include autonomous hovering aerial vehicles, autonomous ground vehicles, underwater robots and mining robots. He has an Honours Degree in Aerospace Systems Engineering and a PhD in computer vision. His PhD work involved the development of parallel visual tracking techniques for use in a high-speed autonomous vehicle. Jonathan has over 50 publications in refereed journals and conferences, is on the program committee of a number of international robotics conferences and in 1999 and 2003 co-chaired the Australian Conference on Robotics & Automation. He is on the editorial board ofthe international journal of field robotics and is currently the vice-president of the Australian Robotics & Automation Association.

Prof. Randy Beard received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, in 1991, the M.S. degree in electrical engineering in 1993, the M.S. degree in mathematics in 1994, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering in 1995, all from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y. Since 1996, he has been with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, where he is currently an associate professor. In 1997 and 1998, he was a Summer Faculty Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. His research interests include nonlinear control, autonomous systems, and multiple vehicle coordination and control with particular emphasis on unmanned air vehicles.

Aaron Kahn received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999 and 2001. Sense 2001 he has worked in the area of guidance, navigation, and controls for the Vehicle Research Section at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. His current research interests are in the areas of guidance, navigation, and control techniques for expendable aerial vehicles. Past research projects include the MITE micro-aerial vehicle, Dragon Warrior autonomous helicopter, and SPIDER autonomous helicopter.

Dr. David E. Jeffcoat earned the Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at Auburn University. He is presently a Senior Research Engineer with the Air Force Research Lab, Munitions Directorate, Eglin Air Force Base Florida. He has worked in industry and government for thirty years in a variety of research, engineering, and technical management positions.

Prof. Kimon Valavanis is professor of Computer Science and Engineering; the Deputy Director, Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue; Faculty Associate, Center for Urban Transportation Research; Editor-in-Chief, IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine; Fulbright Senior Lecturing and Research Award Scholar; Book-Review Editor, Journal of Intelligent and Robotic System

Troy Turner currently serves as Assistant to the Chief of the Knowledge Engineering Group at the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) of the U. S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USMRMC), at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Mr. Turner provides oversight to the congressionally directed Mobile Communications Platform and Robotic Emergency Medical Danger-Detection project being conducted at the Center of Excellence for Remote and Medically Under-Served Areas center at St. Francis University in Loretto, PA. Additionally, Mr. Turner serves as Project Officer on TATRC's Robotic Patient Rescue project, which draws together several mobile robotics projects from such organizations as Applied Perception, Foster-Miller, iRobot, and Remotec.

Dr. Jonathan Roberts is a Principal Research Scientist with the CSIRO ICT Centre. His research interests include autonomous hovering aerial vehicles, autonomous ground vehicles, underwater robots and mining robots. He has an Honours Degree in Aerospace Systems Engineering and a PhD in computer vision. His PhD work involved the development of parallel visual tracking techniques for use in a high-speed autonomous vehicle. Jonathan has over 50 publications in refereed journals and conferences, is on the program committee of a number of international robotics conferences and in 1999 and 2003 co-chaired the Australian Conference on Robotics and Automation. He is on the editorial board of the international journal of field robotics and is currently the vice-president of the Australian Robotics and Automation Association.