Navinda Kottege

Navinda Kottege is a Research Director at CSIRO Data61, where he leads the Cyber-Physical Systems Research Program focused on Robotics, Computer Vision, and Distributed Sensing Systems. He also holds Adjunct Professor positions at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and the University of Queensland. His career spans over a decade in robotics R&D, including pioneering legged robot research at CSIRO since 2011.

His research interests broadly include robotics, sensor networks, and autonomous systems, with specific expertise in legged robot navigation, perception, and control in complex environments. He contributed to the Serafina project for underwater robotics during his PhD.

• Education:
  • PhD in Engineering, The Australian National University (2009)
  • Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT), University of Colombo School of Computing (2004)
  • BSc in Engineering Physics, University of Colombo (2003)

Scientific Awards:

• CSIRO Chair's Medal (2022)
• Queensland iAward (2022)
• DARPA Subterranean Challenge Second Place Prize (2021)

Professional Roles: Senior Member of IEEE (since 2014), Chair of IEEE Queensland joint chapter for Control Systems/Robotics and Automation Societies (2020-2021), Associate Editor for IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (2020-2023), and member of ACM (since 2009).