Nikolay-Atanasov

Nikolay Atanasov

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Nikolay A. Atanasov joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC San Diego in Fall 2016 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania. Atanasov received his Ph.D. in electrical and systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015. His work proposed sensing models that enable the use of context and semantic information in robot localization, mapping, and navigation and developed algorithms for active information acquisition using autonomous robot teams. His contributions were recognized by the Joseph and Rosaline Wolf award for the best Ph.D. dissertation in electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 2015. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Trinity College and a Master of Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Henrik Christensen

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Dr. Henrik I. Christensen is the Qualcomm Chancellor’s Chair of Robot Systems and a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, UC San Diego. He is also the director of the Contextual Robotics Institute, the Cognitive Robotics Laboratory, and the Autonomous Vehicle Laboratory

He is an academic doing research on robotics and artificial intelligence, the main editor of the US National Robotics Roadmap, and an entrepreneur. He has co-founded multiple companies including Robust.AI, Christensen Consulting Group, AeroScan, and Intelligent Machines. He is also engaged in investments in publicly traded companies and start-ups through companies such as ROBO Global (co-founder) and Spring Mountain Capital (advisor)

Dr. Christensen does research on robotics and AI, with an emphasis on a systems view to problems. The research has been published in 400+ contributions across AI, Computer Vision, and Robotics. The research has been adopted by companies such as Electrolux, ABB, KUKA, Weda, BMW, Boeing, iRobot, PerMobil, General Motors, … He serves as a consultant to agencies and companies across four continents.