Washington: Dr Vijay Kumar, an Indian-American expert on robotics and cyber physical systems, has been elected as Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science, effective July 1.
Dr Kumar is recognized around the world for his groundbreaking work on the development of autonomous robots and on biologically inspired algorithms for collective behaviour, the school said announcing his appointment.
During a scholarly leave in 2012-14, he served in the White House as Assistant Director for Robotics and Cyber Physical Systems in the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
“I am honored and excited to serve as the next dean of Penn Engineering,” Dr Kumar said.
As Deputy Dean for education in 2008-12, he was instrumental in the creation of several innovative master’s degree programmes.
Earlier, he served in 2005-08 as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, in 2000-04 as deputy dean for research and in 1998-2004 as director of the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception, or GRASP, Laboratory, a multidisciplinary robotics and perception lab.
The author of more than 400 refereed articles and papers and more than 20 books and book chapters, he is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.