Faculty
Michael A. Gennert
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 130
Phone: +1-508-831-5476
Fax: +1-508-831-5776
michaelg@wpi.edu
Website
Michael A. Gennert
- Director, Robotics Engineering
- Professor, Computer Science
Working with students and faculty members, we develop robots to inspect trees for invasive insect pests, autonomous boats for monitoring lakes, or medical imaging to improve cancer and heart disease diagnoses and treatment. Read more...
Holly K. Ault
Contact Information:
Higgins Laboratories, 208
Phone: +1-508-831-5498
Fax: +1-508-831-5680
hkault@wpi.edu
Website
Holly K. Ault
- Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Professor Ault holds the distinction of being the first woman to receive a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from WPI. She enjoys the breadth and depth of global projects and finds them to be an excellent learning opportunity for herself and for students. Read more...
Scott Barton
Contact Information:
Alden Memorial, 208
Phone: +1-508-831-5620
sdbarton@wpi.edu
Scott Barton
- Assistant Professor, Humanities & Arts
I compose, perform, record, mix and produce electroacoustic music; I am interested in how we can use the tools and techniques of audio production to explore new musical territory. I build mechatronic and robotic musical instruments; I am interested in how we can free electronic music from the world of speakers through computer-controlled automatic mechanical instruments. Read more...
Dmitry Berenson
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 121
Phone: +1-508-831-5587
dberenson@wpi.edu
Website
Dmitry Berenson
- Assistant Professor, Computer Science
My research focuses on robotic manipulation, motion planning, and collaborative robotics. Read more...
Sonia Chernova
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 125
Phone: +1-508-831-6547
Fax: +1-508-831-5776
soniac@wpi.edu
Website
Sonia Chernova
- Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Professor Chernova also serves as director of the Robot Autonomy and Interactive Learning (RAIL) Lab. Her work focuses on building systems that are able to learn from interaction with users and ask for help from humans when necessary. Read more...
Michael J. Ciaraldi
Contact Information:
Fuller Laboratories, 129
Phone: +1-508-831-5117
Fax: +1-508-831-5776
ciaraldi@wpi.edu
Website
Michael J. Ciaraldi
- Professor of Practice, Computer Science
For Professor Ciaraldi, the greatest thing about being at WPI is the chance to work with students on so many different projects. His interests include curriculum creation, software development, user interface design, and networking. Read more...
David Cyganski
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 217
Phone: +1-508-831-5448
Fax: +1-508-831-5491
cyganski@wpi.edu
David Cyganski
- Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
I consider myself to be part electrical engineer, part mathematician, and part physicist. Physics has become as much a hobby as an intellectual interest—even to the point of creating terrible at-home basement experiments in the name of science. Read more...
R. James Duckworth
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 301
Phone: +1-508-831-5204
Fax: +1-508-831-5491
rjduck@wpi.edu
Website
R. James Duckworth
- Associate Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
This [PPL] project started as a result of the tragic incident in Worcester in 1999 when six firefighters lost their lives in a warehouse fire. Its overall goal is to protect the lives of emergency responders and to enhance their ability to accomplish their missions. Read more...
Alexander E. Emanuel
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 215
Phone: +1-508-831-5239
Fax: +1-508-831-5491
aemanuel@wpi.edu
Alexander E. Emanuel
- Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
I see my students as budding engineers, as future colleagues. I make a point to develop in them the following basic skills: to study effectively, to respect society and the environment, to take responsibility for their ideas, to think a problem through, and then to clearly communicate that problem. These skills are tools for a lifetime. Read more...
Gregory S. Fischer
Contact Information:
Higgins Laboratories, 206
Phone: +1-508-831-5261
Fax: +1-508-831-5680
gfischer@wpi.edu
Website
Gregory S. Fischer
- Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Professor Fischer is a faculty member in Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Engineering with an appointment in Biomedical Engineering at WPI. He is also director of the Automation and Interventional Medicine (AIM) Robotics Laboratory. Read more...
Cosme Furlong
Contact Information:
Higgins Laboratories, 151
Phone: +1-508-831-5126
Fax: +1-508-831-5680
cfurlong@wpi.edu
Website
Cosme Furlong
- Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Professor Furlong is the author of more than 100 technical publications and he actively participates, as organizer and co-organizer, in national and international conferences on optical metrology and mechanics. Read more...
Susan M. Jarvis
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 011
Phone: +1-508-831-5325
Fax: +1-508-831-5491
sjarvis@wpi.edu
Website
Susan M. Jarvis
- Adjunct Instructor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
The world of work is so interdisciplinary—in any field you can think of, there is the need for tools to measure, study, process, and analyze. Electrical and computer engineers are the tool builders! Read more...
Robert W. Lindeman
Contact Information:
Fuller Laboratories, B24a
Phone: +1-508-831-6712
Fax: +1-508-831-5776
gogo@wpi.edu
Website
Robert W. Lindeman
- Associate Professor, Computer Science
The vast majority of work that has been done in the field of virtual reality has addressed the visual and auditory senses. We are interested in the remaining senses, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory, in addition to these. Read more...
Fred J. Looft III
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 012
Phone: +1-508-831-5369
Fax: +1-508-831-5491
fjlooft@wpi.edu
Website
Fred J. Looft III
- Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
My interests in ECE have evolved over the years—from the modeling of sensory receptors and neural coding to off-campus student project advising, the development of space flight systems and small satellites, and, most recently, alternative energy and aircraft avionics. Read more...
William R. Michalson
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 309
Phone: +1-508-831-5766
Fax: +1-508-831-5491
wrm@wpi.edu
William R. Michalson
- Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
My interests in communication, navigation, and computing have led me to play an active role in the development of the Robotics Program at WPI, where I teach robotics courses at the graduate and undergraduate level. Read more...
Stephen S. Nestinger
Contact Information:
Higgins Laboratories, 210
Phone: +1-508-831-6445
ssnestinger@wpi.edu
Website
Stephen S. Nestinger
- Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Professor Nestinger’s research interests include real-time systems, software and systems integration, multi-robot systems, collaborative and cooperative systems, mobile agent systems, and intelligent embedded and mechantronic systems. Read more...
Cagdas Onal
Contact Information:
Higgins Laboratories, 105
Phone: +1-508-831-4857
cdonal@wpi.edu
Cagdas Onal
- Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
An integral part of a rewarding academic career is being an educator. It is a wonderful opportunity to work with students and guide their development to fulfill their potential. I enjoy teaching the fundamentals of robotics engineering, science and technology as well as training students in advanced independent research. Read more...
Taskin Padir
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 229
Phone: +1-508-831-6427
Fax: +1-508-831-5491
tpadir@wpi.edu
Website
Taskin Padir
- Assistant Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
WPI is the perfect school to start a multidisciplinary robotics engineering program. Our students are hardworking and eager to learn. The size of the school makes it possible for students to receive personal attention with their studies from WPI’s dedicated faculty and staff. Read more...
Marko B. Popovic
Contact Information:
Olin Hall, 215
Phone: +1-508-831-5392
Fax: +1-508-831-5886
mpopovic@wpi.edu
Website
Marko B. Popovic
- Assistant Research Professor, Physics
Professor Marko B Popovic, PI, is an assistant research professor in the WPI Physics department. His research interest ranges from fundamental physics to human neuro-sensory-motor organization to engineering robotics systems that assist and augment humans. Read more...
Craig Putnam
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 129
Phone: +1-508-831-6658
Fax: +1-508-831-5776
cbputnam@wpi.edu
Craig Putnam
- Adjunct Instructor, Computer Science
Professor Putnam takes a great deal of pride and pleasure in helping students get off to a good start in their engineering careers. To him, there is nothing more rewarding than when a former student stops by several years later to say thanks. Read more...
Charles Rich
Contact Information:
Fuller Laboratories, B25b
Phone: +1-508-831-5945
Fax: +1-508-831-5776
rich@wpi.edu
Website
Charles Rich
- Professor, Computer Science
What gets me out of bed in the morning is the hope that I will one day interact with a true artificial intelligence and the belief that part of what I will do today contributes to that goal; I am interested in all kinds of applications of AI. Read more...
Yiming "Kevin" Rong
Contact Information:
Washburn Shops, 307
Phone: +1-508-831-6020
Fax: +1-508-831-5673
rong@wpi.edu
Yiming Rong
- Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Rong’s research area is computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), including manufacturing systems, machining and heat treatment processes, and computer-aided fixture design (CAFD). His research on CAFD has been recognized internationally. Read more...
Candace L. Sidner
Contact Information:
Fuller Laboratories, B21
Phone: +1-508-831-6637
Fax: +1-508-831-5776
sidner@wpi.edu
Website
Candace L. Sidner
- Research Professor, Computer Science
Professor Sidner participates in a variety of research activities with students and faculty members. She enjoys introducing students to new ideas, then watching them take those ideas in new and innovative directions. Read more...
Jeanine Skorinko
Contact Information:
Salisbury Laboratories, 317C
Phone: +1-508-831-5451
skorinko@wpi.edu
Website
Jeanine Skorinko
- Assistant Professor, Social Science & Policy Studies
Jeanine Skorinko’s research program attempts to understand through investigation how different factors in our social environment, especially those factors we are unaware of, influence decisions, perceptions, self-views, and interpersonal interactions. Read more...
Kenneth Alan Stafford
Contact Information:
Higgins Laboratories, 011
Phone: +1-508-831-6122
Fax: +1-508-831-5680
stafford@wpi.edu
Kenneth Alan Stafford
- Associate Director, Robotics Engineering
- Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Ken’s research interests include low-speed aerodynamics, mechanical systems for autonomy and robotic dexterity, continuously variable transmission design, super-charging and hybridization of vehicle power systems, and K-12 pre-engineering curricula development. He relishes student interaction through teaching and academic and nonacademic projects. Read more...
Eduardo Rafael Torres-Jara
Contact Information:
Atwater Kent Laboratories, 124
Phone: +1-508-831-6028
etorresj@wpi.edu
Website
Eduardo Rafael Torres-Jara
- Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Professor Torres-Jara’s interest in “sensitive robotics,” an approach in which great importance is given to tactile feedback, began with robotic manipulation with great success and is being tested in different areas of robotics. Read more...
