Education

08/95-05/00: Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California. Thesis advisor: Professor George A. Bekey. Dissertation title: "Robust Mobile Robot Localization: From single-robot uncertainties to multi-robot interdependencies".

08/95-12/96: M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California - GPA 4.0

09/89-08/95: Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) - ranking top 2%.

08/95-present: Research Assistant, Robotics Research Laboratories, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. 

1. Sensor Fusion: Designed localization and mapping algorithms for mobile robots. Applied Kalman filtering and H-infinity state estimation techniques for autonomous ground vehicle position tracking. Implementation platforms: Rocky 7 and 8 rovers under development for the Mars exploration program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL), NASA.
2. Robot Colonies: Designed distributed algorithms for cooperative mapping and localization of groups of mobile robots. Investigated information exchange issues for the case of large colonies of robots under communication bandwidth limitations.
3. Autonomous Flying Vehicle: Developed state estimation algorithms to be used for the control of an autonomous helicopter.
4. Pattern Recognition: Developed real-time software for reliable extraction of indoor structural features using laser range finder signals.
5. Robust Embedded Systems: Modeled electro-mechanical and sensory systems at fault. Designed and developed parallel, real-time diagnostic estimators for failure detection and identification. Examined reconfigurable control strategies. 
6. Virtual Reality: Modeled human head motion. Designed next-staring-point configuration predictor for a head-on display. 

Designed and developed estimation algorithms for detection and tracking of human face features using 3D laser range scanner (lidar).

Classes: EE545 Introduction to Robotics, CS460 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence.

Leading a team of 4 engineers. Developed electromechanical designs for competitive bids for large-scale construction projects as part of larger proposal teams. 

Programmed large-scale telephone centers at companies, institutes and organizations (National Bank of Greece, Agricultural University).

Professional Honors and Awards

07/99: Honorable mention for "Novel Concepts in Human-Robot Interaction'' and 3rd place in the "Hors d'oeuvres Event'' at the 1999 AAAI competition. 

08/98-05/99: Myronis Fellow, University of Southern California.

08/95: Graduation from NTUA with honors for ranking in the top 2% of the graduation class. 

09/88-06/89: Fellowship for ranking 3rd in the National University Entrance exam, Institute for State Fellowships, Athens, Greece.

03/87: 1st prize in the annual competition of the National Society of Mathematics, Athens, Greece.
 
 

Professional Activities & Affiliations 

1. Paper reviewer for IEEE Transactions in Neural Networks, Journal of Autonomous Robots, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.
2. Member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
3. Member of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). 

Hardware & Software Platforms and Relevant Course Work

1. Strong proficiency in C code development. Fluent in FORTRAN, Pascal, LaTex, HTML.
2. Graduate courses include Digital Signal Processing, Adaptive Filtering, Estimation Theory, Computer Architecture, Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic, Adaptive Non-Linear Control.
3. Strong Math and Physics background (12 courses).