Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 

Daniela serves as the director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at MIT. Her research focuses on robotics, artificial intelligence, and distributed systems, with an emphasis on designing machines that are intelligent, adaptive, and collaborative. She has made foundational contributions to soft robotics, multi-robot systems, and autonomous systems operating in complex environments. Daniela is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of IEEE, AAAI, and ACM. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell University. 

NASA Ames Research Center

Terry Fong is NASA's Senior Scientist for Autonomous Systems and Deputy Rover Manager for NASA's VIPER lunar rover mission. He is also Chief Roboticist and former Director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at the Ames Research Center. Terry previously led development of the Astrobee free-flying robot, which was installed on the Space Station in 2019. Terry has published more than 150 papers in space and field robotics, human-robot interaction, virtual reality, and planetary mapping. Terry received his B.S. and M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and his Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Georgia Institute of Technology

Hiro Ono in an incoming professor at Georgia Tech. He previously served as the Group Supervisor of the Robotic Mobility Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and PI of the EELS project to create a highly versatile and intelligent robot for exploring unknown environments such as Enceladus vents. As a member of the Mars 2020 Rover (M2020) Mission, he supported tactical robotic operations. He developed M2020’s autonomous driving algorithm and also led the landing site traversability analysis. His research interest is centered around the application of robotic autonomy to space exploration, with an emphasis on machine learning applications to perception, data interpretation, and risk-aware decision-making. Before joining JPL in 2013, he was an assistant professor at Keio University in Japan. He graduated from MIT with PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2012. A father of a rebellious princess and a mischievous munchkin. Go Red Sox and Hanshin Tigers.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 

Zac is a roboticist and aerospace engineer with broad interests in dynamics, control, and numerical optimization. He is especially interested in taking advantage of advancements in computation and embedded electronics to build robotic systems that are smaller, smarter, and more agile. He graduated from Cornell with a PhD in Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space engineering in 2015 as is currently an associate professor at MIT, where he leads the Robotic Exploration Lab.

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)

Dr. Tom A. Nordheim is a Section Manager and a member of the Senior Professional Staff at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. His research bridges the gap between planetary science and extreme-environment robotics, focusing on the exploration of ocean worlds in our Solar System. He is on the science team for the NASA Europa Clipper mission, currently en route to investigate the potential habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa and its subsurface ocean, and is the deputy principal investigator for the SELINE investigation, which will investigate potential hazardous radiation on the lunar surface in preparation for astronauts. Formerly, he was a Research Scientist and the Deputy Director of the Ocean Worlds Laboratory at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he helped develop novel mission concepts for future exploration of Europa and Neptune's moon Triton. While there, he also worked on novel submersible robotic platforms designed to explore subglacial lakes in Antarctica and frozen lake environments in the High Arctic, which serve as analogs for accessing the deep oceans of icy moons like Europa and Enceladus. He earned his Ph.D. in Space Physics from University College London and holds a B.Sc. in Space Science and Robotics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

Richard Camilli is a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Deep Submergence Laboratory. Dr. Camilli received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2003 and maintains a research affiliation with MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. His work focuses on developing and using autonomous robotic systems for oceanography, archaeology, disaster response, and space exploration. He is a Leopold Leadership Fellow and National Science Foundation Career Award recipient. Camilli has served on over 50 oceanographic expeditions and several dozen human occupied submersible and saturation diving missions throughout the world. 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

Nare is a Tenure Track Assistant Scientist and an MIT-WHOI Joint Program faculty at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). Previously Nare was a postdoctoral associate at Maryland Robotics Center at University of Maryland (UMD) where she worked with Dr. Dinesh Manocha, Dr. Pratap Tokekar and Dr. Miao Yu.  Nare received her PhD in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina (UofSC), where she worked in the Autonomous Field Robotics Laboratory (AFRL) under the supervision of  Dr. Ioannis Rekleitis. Since 2022, Nare has been serving as an Associate Editor (AE) for the RA-L, IROS and ICRA Editorial Boards.

Nare's research focuses on planning and exploration problems with heterogeneous multi-agent systems, with particular applications in the aquatic domain. Her research aims to develop more efficient, task-oriented exploration techniques for environmental monitoring and survey operations. Nare's research often draws inspiration from human expertise in performing surface and underwater robotic tasks.

Honeybee Robotics

Dr. Kris Zacny is VP of Exploration Systems (EX) and Senior Research Scientist at Honeybee Robotics. His interests include space mining, In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), extraterrestrial drilling and sampling, and planetary geotechnical engineering. He co-founded EX, based in Altadena, CA to focus on developing space mining robots for the Solar System exploration and utilization. EX has grown from 2 to over 100 employees in less than 10 years.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Takashi Kubota is a professor at Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan. He received Dr. degree in electrical engineering in 1991 from the University of Tokyo. He is also a professor of the graduate school of the University of Tokyo. He was a visiting scientist in Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1997 and 1998. He engaged in the guidance, navigation, and control in HAYABUSA mission. His research interests include Robotics and AI in space, especially Autonomous Rover and Image based Navigation 

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Andrew Klesh is an explorer of extreme environments, developing and executing novel expeditions of discovery, from the bottom of the sea, to interplanetary space.  He has served as lead engineer for multiple interplanetary missions at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, including the Lunar Trailblazer orbiter and 2018's MarCO dual-spacecraft mission to Mars. Additionally, he provides technical leadership and/or engineering support of the BRUIE project (Buoyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration), the joint JPL/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Orpheus program, and novel seismometer networks for Caltech, primarily in active volcanic terrain. Andy is now the inaugural Associate Director & Chief Systems Engineer of the Caltech/JPL Brinson Exploration Hub, pursuing ambitious projects with a tolerance for risk and the potential to fundamentally transform exploration. Over his career, he has completed over 30 arctic, Antarctic, and deep ocean expeditions.