Three recognized for outsized contributions to Robotics in 2023

February 5, 2024
Abhishek Narula and Peter Gaskell sort through a table of Mbot PICO+ chips in the ROB 550 lab.
Abhishek Narula and Peter Gaskell check through an order of Mbot PICO+ chips in the summer before assembling the fall fleet of robots.

Robotics honors staff and faculty who create a welcoming community, exemplify our values, and allow our roboticists to prosper. We recognize such efforts in many ways, including through the College of Engineering Staff Incentive Program and the Robotics Departmental Faculty Award.

The Staff Incentive Program recognizes staff who consistently demonstrate the College’s vision and mission. This initiative is part of the culture pillar of Michigan Engineering’s strategic plan.

This year’s Robotics recipients of the Staff Incentive Program are Abhishek Narula and Samantha Price.

The Departmental Faculty Award recognizes faculty for high impact accomplishments benefiting the Department and the College.

This year’s Robotics Department Faculty Award honors Chad Jenkins.

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Dimitra Panagou earns Research Excellence Award

February 5, 2024
Three four-wheeled robot vehicles drive along grass while a researcher works on a computer in the background in a netted research facility outdoors.
Members of Dimitra Panagou’s lab test out a team of networked autonomous vehicles at M-Air.

Dimitra Panagou’s research has the potential to create safe networked control systems across a vast number of fields, from aerial swarms to satellite constellations, connected vehicles, human-robot networks and beyond. Panagou, associate professor of robotics, has been recognized for these research efforts with the George J. Huebner, Jr. Research Excellence Award, which is given to those who have demonstrated sustained excellence in research and related scholarly activities. 

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Joshua Mangelson earns Robotics Alumni Award

October 23, 2023

Over homecoming, Dr. Joshua Mangelson received the 2023 Robotics Department Alumni Merit Award. As part of the homecoming visit, Dr. Mangelson presented the Robotics Alumni Award Lecture, “Steps Towards Intelligent Large-Scale Marine Robotic Autonomy,” for the robotics community.

Dr. Mangelson became the very first person to earn a PhD degree in Robotics from the University of Michigan. He was one of five brave students in the first cohort who joined the new program. They accepted the risks, but also realized the reward, of defining the discipline of robotics.

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U-M partners with autonomous air mobility center

October 13, 2023
Autonomous aerial vehicles are flown at M-Air, an advanced robotics testing facility for air, sea, and land, on North Campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. Photo: Joseph Xu

The University of Michigan is proud to be a partner in the pioneering Center for Autonomous Air Mobility and Sensing (CAAMS). This recognized National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (I-UCRC), established in 2022, conducts cutting-edge research and training in autonomous air mobility and sensing technology.

“As a contributing member, the University of Michigan is enabling advancements at the forefront of research on autonomous aerospace vehicles and systems,” said Dimitra Panagou, associate professor of robotics and aerospace engineering, and U-M’s site director for CAAMS.

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Michigan Robotics at IROS 2023 in Detroit

September 7, 2023
Skyline of Detroit from across the river. Image by Peter Mol from Pixabay.
Detroit skyline. Image by Peter Mol from Pixabay.

Roboticists descend on the Motor City for the 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) from October 1st through 5th. IROS serves as a significant annual platform for robotics researchers to present and investigate advancements in intelligent robots and smart machines. Researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have a short commute this year, as they showcase the work done at Michigan.

Below are highlights of what Michigan roboticists are bringing this year.

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