Jonathan P. How

Jonathan P. How holds the title of Richard Cockburn Maclaurin Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. He leads the Aerospace Controls Laboratory and is a prominent figure in autonomous systems, robotics, and control systems research. His work emphasizes multi-agent planning, trajectory optimization, and SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) in complex environments. He has contributed to advancements in aerospace robotics, guidance systems for spacecraft, and resilient control algorithms for autonomous vehicles.

Education: B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science (Aerospace) from the University of Toronto (1983–1987), S.M. (1987–1990) and Ph.D. (1990–1993) in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. His research spans topics like decentralized planning, neural network control verification, and deep learning for terrain navigation.

Research Interests: Focused on autonomous systems, including multi-agent coordination, robust control design, and AI-driven navigation. Key areas include safe autonomy for uncrewed vehicles, socially compliant robot navigation, and space mission planning.

Publications: Over 150 peer-reviewed articles in journals like IEEE Transactions on Robotics and conferences such as ICRA and IROS. Recent work addresses global localization on planetary surfaces, physics-informed learning for terrain traversal, and resilient neural feedback systems.

Awards: Elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2021), IEEE Fellow (2018), and numerous best paper awards. Recognized for contributions to control systems education and building community within MIT's A&A department.

Advising & Grants: Advised numerous graduate students and led projects funded by NASA, DARPA, and the U.S. Air Force. Current grants focus on multi-agent SLAM, safe autonomous systems, and AI for space exploration.

Labs & Teams: Directs the Aerospace Controls Laboratory, collaborating with industry partners like NASA and Boeing. Active in IEEE Control Systems Society, including editorial roles and conference organization.