Stephen L. Smith

Stephen L. Smith is a Professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He serves as Co-Director of the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute, leading research in robotics and AI. His work focuses on autonomous systems, multi-robot coordination, and human-robot interaction, with applications in navigation, control systems, and collaborative task planning.

Smith's research explores challenges such as path planning in uncertain environments, persistent monitoring, and adaptive decision-making. His contributions include algorithms for robot navigation in ice-covered waters, real-time replanning under constraints, and optimizing multi-agent systems for efficiency and safety.

Key scientific awards include the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair designation. His research also addresses human-centric aspects, such as studying user preferences in collaborative tasks and developing frameworks for learning user intent through interaction.