ORSP Lunch and Learn

Speaker:        Dr. Christopher Kitts
                       Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and
                       Director, Robotics Systems Laboratory
                       Santa Clara University

Date/Time:    Friday, January 24,
2014
                      12:00 noon to 12:50 PM

Place:            Butler Auditorium, Triplett Alumni Center
                     (Between Yerby and the old Law School)

The Santa Clara University Robotic Systems Laboratory runs an active field robotics program in which students develop field-grade robotic systems for real-world land/sea/air/space missions.  Students, staff and faculty develop and operate these systems and their associated advanced technologies in collaboration with external customers, sponsors, and collaborators, which typically include partners from the government (NASA, NOAA, the US Air Force, the US Navy, the US Geological Survey, etc.), industry (Lockheed, Loral, BMW, etc.), academia (University of Nevada Reno, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Baylor University, etc.), and the non-profit sector (the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, CA Space Grant, etc.).  This seminar will review some of the robotic systems, missions and technology ongoing within the Lab, highlighting work ranging from providing mission control services for a series of NASA spacecraft to developing fleets of automated boats for environmental monitoring.

Dr. Christopher Kitts is an Associate Professor in Santa Clara University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering where he serves as the Director of the Robotic Systems Laboratory.  Dr. Kitts’ research includes the development of novel robotic systems, multi-agent control, and model-based fault diagnosis.  He teaches primarily in the field of control systems, mechatronics, and robotics.  Dr. Kitts has concurrent appointments as the Mission Operations Lead for a series of NASA spacecraft and as a research engineer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.  He has previous industrial experience as a NASA contractor and an Air Force officer; he holds degrees from Princeton University, the University of Colorado, and Stanford University.

Space is limited, so UM faculty, staff, and students wishing to attend should register online at http://www.research.olemiss.edu/upcoming-presentations.

Lunch will be provided.