Informal Biography

I'm a professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, where I lead the Space & Terrestrial Autonomous Robotic Systems (STARS) Laboratory. My group carries out research on perception, planning, and learning, primarily applied to robotic (mobile) manipulation (although we do other things, too!). I currently hold the Canada Research Chair in Collaborative Robotics. I'm also a Faculty Affiliate at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence and at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. More details about our projects and people are available on the laboratory site.

Why robotics? And why (mobile) manipulation? A key distinguishing feature of human beings is our ability to manipulate the world around us and to use tools. This capacity to interact with and shape the physical environment defines much of human life. Robots that can perceive and physically manipulate their surroundings hold enormous potential to improve our human condition. The information technology revolution has given us remarkable computational systems in software; the next revolution will bring those capabilities into the physical world. This. Will. Change. Everything.

Prior to joining the University of Toronto, I was a postdoctoral associate in CSAIL at MIT in Cambridge, working with Prof. Nick Roy. I completed my PhD in Computer Science at USC in Los Angeles, under the supervision of Prof. Gaurav Sukhatme. I earned my MSc under Prof. Hong Zhang (now at SUSTech), who introduced me to robotics, and got my research start working with Prof. Russ Greiner (University of Alberta), who introduced me to machine learning. I’m grateful to all of these individuals for setting me on such an interesting research path! Before graduate school, I was a software engineer in the Space Technologies division of the Canadian Space Agency.

I'm originally from Edmonton, a city of just over one million people and the capital of the province of Alberta, Canada (also the birthplace of Michael J. Fox). A more 'in-depth' photo is available here.

What I'm Reading

I try to read broadly—perspective and inspiration often come from unexpected places. I own more books than I will ever manage to finish (used bookstores are a particular weakness). Below are a few of the titles keeping me company right now (in all likelihood, the listing is out of date).