People

Directors

Naira Hovakimyan, Director
W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor
Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering
2011 Mechanical Engineering Lab
(217) 244-1672
nhovakim@illinois.edu
Srinivasa Salapaka, Deputy Director
Professor
Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering
367 Coordinated Science Laboratory
(217) 244-4172
salapaka@illinois.edu 

Bringing Together World Experts

Multi-disciplinary team across diverse technical domains:

Verification and Validation 

Control Systems

Airspace Management

Multi-Institutional Expertise

Covering a broad National footprint across:

5 Universities

2 Industry Groups

1 FAA-designated UAS test site

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Bo Li
Assistant Professor
Computer Science
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Sayan Mitra
Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Melkior Ornik
Assistant Professor
Aerospace Engineering
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Lui Sha
Donald B. Gillies Chair, Professor
Computer Science
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Georgia Institute of Technology

Evangelos Theodorou
Associate Professor
Aerospace Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Chuchu Fan 
Wilson Assistant Professor
Aeronautics and Astronautics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

University of Nevada, Reno 

Christos Papachristos
Assistant Professor
Computer Science and  Engineering
University of Nevada, Reno
Petros Voulgaris
Chair, Victor LaMar Lockhart Professor
Mechanical Engineering
University of Nevada, Reno

North Carolina A&T State University

Dr. Kory L. Bennett
Director for Robotics Outreach
Electrical & Computer Engineering
North Carolina A&T State University

Ali Karimoddini
Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
North Carolina A&T State University
Ioannis Raptis
Assistant Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
North Carolina A&T State University

Lockheed Martin

Andrzej Banaszuk
Director of Strategy
Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Labs
Michael Niestroy
Lockheed Martin
Aeronautical Engineering Manager
Christopher Elliott
Lockheed Martin Fellow
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
James Ramsey
Lockheed Martin
Senior Research Scientist
Flight Control Engineer
Carley Mollica
Program Management Staff 
Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Labs

Sierra Nevada Corporation

Jack Cross
Director of Technology, Mission Systems Technology
Sierra Nevada Corporation
Jon DeWald, PMP
Program Manager
Sierra Nevada Corporation
Andy Smith, PhD
Principal Systems Engineer
Sierra Nevada Corporation
Anna Stoneman
Software Engineer
Sierra Nevada Corporation

Advisory Board

Belinda Batten
Oregon State University
Fariba Fahroo
Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
Sonja Glavaski
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Brandon Jones
Wing
Richard Murray
CalTech
Lena Valavani
Draper Laboratory
Kevin Wise (chair)
Boeing