Paul S. Blaer

Paul S. Blaer is a Senior Lecturer in Discipline at Columbia University's Computer Science Department, with adjunct roles in the Robotics Laboratory. He directs computing research facilities and teaches courses in data structures, robotics, and computer programming. His research develops autonomous systems for 3D site modeling and robotic navigation.

Key projects include view planning algorithms for large-scale environments (e.g., Governors Island), hybrid topological localization using vision and WiFi, and educational tools for Java/MATLAB programming. His AVENUE robot platform enabled automated urban mapping.

Teaching awards include the Columbia Engineering Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award (2018) and multiple Outstanding Teaching Assistant awards. Grants support robotics curriculum development and NSF-funded research in geometric computation.