Mitchell Pryor

Mitchell Pryor is a Research Professor in the Department of Nuclear and Radiation Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He specializes in applied robotics and automation, particularly in hazardous environments such as nuclear facilities, energy sectors, and defense applications. Pryor earned his BSME from Southern Methodist University (1993), followed by an MS (1999) and PhD (2002) in Mechanical Engineering from UT Austin. His research focuses on robotics for hazardous environments, including nuclear waste management, autonomous systems, and human-robot collaboration.

He leads the Nuclear & Applied Robotics Group (NRG) and co-founded RAPID, an industry affiliate program supporting automation in energy sectors. His work spans robotics in extreme environments, augmented reality interfaces, and task planning frameworks. Key collaborations include Army Futures Command (AFC), NASA, DARPA, and DOE national labs such as INL, LANL, and ORNL.

Pryor’s contributions include developing the TeMoto software framework for robotic autonomy, virtual fixture systems, and radiation surveying methodologies. He chairs the ANS Robotics & Remote Systems Division and actively participates in IEEE, ASME, and other professional societies. His research emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to deploy robotics in complex, uncertain environments for tasks like material handling, mobile manipulation, and environmental monitoring.

Notable projects include AR-STAR for real-time robot data modification, MaRMOT for object tracking, and TeMoto 2.0 for task execution formalisms. His work bridges theoretical robotics with practical applications in nuclear safety, energy infrastructure, and defense systems.