Thor Inge Fossen

Thor Inge Fossen is a Professor of Navigation and Marine Craft Control at the Department of Engineering Cybernetics, Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He is a key scientist at the Norwegian Centre for Embodied AI (NCEI) and internationally recognized for his work in navigation systems, guidance systems, and control of marine vessels, aircraft, and drones.

Professor Fossen holds a PhD in Engineering Cybernetics and an MSc in Marine Technology. His academic journey has led him to become a Fellow of AAIA, IEEE, and IFAC, reflecting his significant contributions to the field.

His research spans several critical areas in marine and aerospace systems:

• Marine craft hydrodynamics and motion control
• Navigation, guidance, and control systems for marine craft, aircraft, and drones
• Cybersecurity of autonomous vehicles
• Sea-state estimation and wave analysis
• Attitude control and estimation
• Fossen's marine craft model, which is widely used in the industry

Professor Fossen's publication record demonstrates a strong focus on adaptive control systems, particularly Line-of-Sight (LOS) guidance laws, with numerous papers on 3D path following for marine and aerial vehicles. His recent work (2023-2025) shows increasing integration of machine learning techniques with traditional control systems, particularly in areas like constrained control allocation using deep neural networks. There's also a growing emphasis on cybersecurity aspects of autonomous vehicle guidance systems.

His scientific recognition includes:

• Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AAIA)
• Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Fellow of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC)

Professor Fossen has been actively involved in advising graduate students, with numerous PhD and MSc graduates. He has led significant research projects including the Marine Systems Simulator (MSS) and the Python Vehicle Simulator, which are widely used tools in the field. His current appointments include being a Study Program Coordinator for the Master's program in Cybernetics and Robotics at NTNU and a Key Scientist at the Norwegian Centre for Embodied AI.

He leads research teams focused on embodied AI applications for marine systems, with particular emphasis on safe and secure autonomous operations in complex maritime environments. His work bridges theoretical control systems with practical marine applications, making significant contributions to both academic research and industry implementation.