Keenan Albee

Keenan Albee is a Robotics Technologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and an incoming Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California (starting Fall 2025). His research focuses on autonomous robotics for extreme environments including lunar missions, microgravity, and underwater operations.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics (Autonomous Systems), MIT (2022)
  • S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT (2019)
  • B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University (2017)

Albee’s work integrates optimal control, reinforcement learning, and motion planning to develop autonomy for mobile robotic systems operating under uncertainty. His expertise spans space robotics, microgravity systems, and underwater robotics, with a focus on environment-aware algorithm design.

Recent research includes parametric information-aware motion planning (RATTLE algorithm), distributed multi-agent exploration, and robust control for uncooperative targets. His publications highlight on-orbit validation of autonomy algorithms via NASA’s Astrobee platform and upcoming lunar missions.

• Scientific Awards:
  • NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship (2022)

Albee actively develops open-source autonomy frameworks and will establish the Laboratory for Autonomous Systems in Exploration and Robotics (LASER) at USC. His work bridges theoretical control methods with real-world deployment, including first-of-its-kind achievements in space robotics.