Director |
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Mary (Missy) Cummings Assistant Professor, MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Principal Investigator, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) Affiliate faculty, MIT Engineering Systems Division email: missyc "at" mit.edu Mary (Missy) Cummings received her B.S. in Mathematics from the United States Naval Academy in 1988, her M.S. in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994, and her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2003. A naval officer and military pilot from 1988-1999, she was one of the Navy's first female fighter pilots. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Aeronautics & Astronautics Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her previous teaching experience includes instructing for the U.S. Navy at Pennsylvania State University and as an assistant professor for the Virginia Tech Engineering Fundamentals Division. Her research interests include human interaction with autonomous vehicle systems, modeling human interaction with complex systems, decision support design for time-pressured, uncertain systems, and the ethical and social impact of technology. |
Research Scientists |
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Lee Spence email: spence "at" ll.mit.edu Lee Spence received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1966, and M.S. and Ph.D degrees, again in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967 and 1969 respectively. Following graduate school he spent two years at the Institute for Defense Analysis. Since 1971 he has been at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory where his primary efforts have been in the application and exploitation of radars in problems in the areas of space surveillance and ballistic missile defense. His current research interests include investigating the roles for human operators in complex systems and in developing displays and decision aids to support them. |
Visiting Professors |
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Heecheon You email: hcyou "at" mit.edu Heecheon You received his B.S. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering from
Seoul His research interests include ergonomic product design, digital
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Post Doctorate Associates |
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Luca F. Bertuccelli email: lucab "at" mit.edu Luca is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Humans and Automation Lab. He obtained his BS in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Purdue University in 2002, his MS and PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT in 2004 and 2008 respectively. His PhD thesis addressed robustness to modeling errors in Markov Decision Processes with applications to UAV systems, His thesis presented a new sampling method for solving robust MDPs for real-time implementation, and extended this method for online adaptation. The thesis also demonstrated the importance of an integrated robust and adaptive architecture in persistent surveillance-like missions that could be modeled as MDPs. His work in HAL involves modeling visual search in UAV missions while accounting for operator workload. His interests are in robust planning, real-time adaptation and control, integrated human-unmanned systems, and distributed decision-making. |
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Birsen Donmez email: bdonmez "at" mit.edu http://www.mit.edu/~bdonmez/ Birsen Donmez is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Humans and Automation Laboratory. She has a PhD (2007), and MS (2004) in Industrial Engineering, and an MS (2007) in Statistical and Actuarial Sciences, from the University of Iowa. She received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Bogazici University, Turkey. Birsen’s research interests are centered on understanding and improving human behavior and performance in multi-task, complex situations, using a wide range of statistical techniques. Her dissertation research examined ways to design in-vehicle systems that enhance driver performance, behavior, productivity, and satisfaction. For her dissertation, she developed a framework of different feedback timings, which focused on inducing a positive behavioral change in addition to improving immediate driving performance. Birsen’s current research focuses on supporting unmanned vehicle operations, and defining metrics to evaluate performance in supervisory control. |
Doctoral Students |
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Yves Boussemart email: yves "at" mit.edu Yves graduated from McGill with a Bachelor of Computer Engineering in 2002 and obtained a Master of Engineering in the Center for Intelligent Machines in 2005. His research work was focused on gestural interfaces for collaborative work in virtual environments. Yves subsequently joined the Embedded Systems Lab at MIT, where he worked on safety critical real-time systems. He is now a PhD student in the Humans and Automation Lab and is working on the Collaborative Time-Sensitive Targeting research project. Beside engineering, Yves also is a PADI scuba diving Specialty Instructor and Emergency First Aid Instructor. Some of his other hobbies are rowing - he currently rows starboard for the MIT Sloan Crew - and digital photography, both underwater and topside. back to top |
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Phillip Cunio email: pmcunio "at" mit.edu Phillip Cunio earned bachelor’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and German from the University of Florida in 2006. He obtained a Master’s in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 2008, with a thesis investigating commonality in portfolios of environmental control and life support systems. His research in the Humans and Automation Lab centers around the development of a systematic means of selecting metrics and evaluation tools for HSI in complex systems throughout their lifecycle. Phillip’s hobbies include education, linguistics, and reading science
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Sylvain Bruni email: sbruni "at" mit.edu Mr. Bruni holds a S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and a Diplôme d’Ingénieur from the Ecole Supérieure d’Electricité (Supélec, France). He is a doctoral candidate in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT’s Humans and Automation Laboratory. While at MIT, he managed the Mobile Advanced Command and Control Station (MACCS) project under funding from the Office of Naval Research.MACCS is a commercial vehicle outfitted with a fully autonomous replica of a US Navy multi-modal workstation. MACCS is used as a mobile experimental testbed, which allows researchers to travel with their equipment where subject-matter experts and military personnel are located, with minimal schedule disruption and at a fraction of typical experimental costs. Currently he is employed as a Human Systems Engineer at Aptima, Inc.,
where he provides expertise in human-automation interaction, interface
design, and the statistical design of experiments. His research targets
the design of computer-supported interactive training systems and the
conceptualization of human-automation collaboration interfaces for
multi-vehicle command and control. |
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Brian Mekdeci email: mekdeci "at" mit.edu Brian Mekdeci obtained a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He then went to work for CDL Systems Ltd in Calgary, Canada as a Systems Engineer designing control systems for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). He is currently a PhD student in ESD studying the control and coordination of multiple, heterogeneous UAVs. Brian is attending MIT accompanied by his faithful companion Tuco, a lovable mixed breed dog whom he adopted from the Calgary pound. back to top |
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Yale Song email: yalesong "at" mit.edu Yale graduated from the Hanyang University in Korea with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. He is currently a graduate student in PhD program at the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at MIT specializing in the area of Computer Science (Area II). He joined the Humans and Automation Lab in 2007 while he was a visiting student and spending his senior year at MIT. As a research assistant in the lab, he is currently working on developing a multimodal understanding interface in human supervisory control systems. His research interests focus on multimodal interface and human-computer interaction. He is also a member of Multimodal Understanding group at the MIT CSAIL (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory). back to top |
Masters Students |
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Geoff Carrigan email: geoffcar "at" mit.edu Geoff Carrigan is a Master’s degree candidate in MIT’s Engineering Systems Division. Geoff earned his commissioning as an Air Force officer from the United States Air Force Academy after graduating in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Systems Engineering. After completing his graduate work, Geoff will enter the Air Force as a developmental engineer working primarily in the Air Force Research Lab. His research interests lie primarily in human systems integration and he is currently focusing on conceptual systems design for aiding futuristic submarine missions.Outside of school Geoff enjoys skiing, sailing, lacrosse and a good book. back to top |
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Ryan Castonia email: castonia "at" mit.edu Ryan Castonia is a B.S/S.M degree candidate in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Ryan is an Air Force ROTC cadet and will commission in the Air Force after graduating in June of 2010. His research consists of developing decision support for team supervisors in human supervisory control settings. Outside of classes and research,
Ryan enjoys playing tennis, snowboarding, building planes, and
various other sports/activities. |
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Andrew Clare email: aclare "at" mit.edu Andrew is a Master's degree student in MIT's department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. He obtained his Bachelor's from MIT in 2008 in the field of Aerospace Engineering with Information Technology. His research focuses primarily on the development of effective decision support interfaces for a single human controlling multiple semi-autonomous, heterogeneous UVs with the help of an automated path planner that the operator can adjust mid-mission. Outside of work, Andrew enjoys sports and his involvement in a number of student groups on MIT's campus. back to top |
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Hank Huang email: hnqar15 "at" mit.edu Hank Huang is a Master’s degree candidate in MIT’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department. He will also receive his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science along with his Master’s degree. He graduated in 2008 from MIT with a Bachelor of Science in Finance from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. His research interests include software system engineering and user interface. His current research focuses on the development of robust software architecture for predictive decision support in real time. Outside of school, Hank can be found in the gym or on the basketball court. He also enjoys driving to Costco to purchase food and water in bulk. |
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Christin Hart email: chart "at" mit.edu Christin Hart is a Master’s degree candidate in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. Christin graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Astronautical Engineering and became commissioned as an Air Force officer in May 2008. Her research in human factors engineering focuses on evaluating multi-UAV interfaces. After completing her graduate work, Christin will attend the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program at Sheppard Air Force Base. Christin enjoys dancing, tumbling, travelling, hanging out with friends, and being a cosmetic consultant. |
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Anna Massie email: amassie "at" mit.edu Anna is a Master's degree student in MIT's department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. She obtained her Bachelor's from MIT in 2007 in the field of Aerospace Engineering. Her research interests focuses primarily on human decision support when high level decisions are being made during the full systems engineering life cycle. Apart from research she participates in a wide range of activities from running and swimming, to the arts through dancing, singing and piano. Additionally, she enjoys camping, hiking and flying. back to top |
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David Pitman email: edave "at" mit.edu David Pitman is a Master's degree candidate in MIT's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department. He graduated in 2006 from MIT with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. David's research interests include Human-Computer Interaction and Information Visualization. His current research focus is on human interaction with path planning algorithms. Outside of the lab, David enjoys any outdoor sport and traveling to foreign countries. |
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Jason Rathje email: jrathje "at" mit.edu Jason is currently a graduate student in MIT's department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. He joined the lab through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program as a Junior in MIT's undergraduate Course XVI program. His current research focuses primarily on Algorithm vs. Human performance in track smoothing experiments as related to radar data collected in space. Outside of work, Jason is on the MIT's Varsity Lacrosse Team and a member of the USAF ROTC program. After completing his graduate requirements, Jason will be attending flight school. |
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Jackie Tappan e-mail: jtappan “at” mit.edu Jackie Tappan is a Master’s degree candidate in the Engineering Systems Division at MIT. Jackie graduated from the University of Waterloo in April 2008 with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Systems Design Engineering. Her research in the area of human factors engineering at HAL focuses on the development of supervisory displays in complex work domains. Outside of her studies, Jackie enjoys snowboarding, tap dancing, running, and baking. While attending MIT, she also hopes to pursue her growing interest in photography. |
Undergraduate Students |
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Jonathan Las Fargeas email: jfargeas "at" mit.edu Jonathan Las Fargeas is a sophomore in the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. At HAL, he works on analyzing cognitive strategies under time pressure. Outside of classes, Jonathan can be found discussing his floor's dodgeball or hockey team's next game or discussing the random article he just read about on the Internet. back to top |
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Javier Garcia email: jagarcia "at" mit.edu Javier is a Bachelor's degree candidate in MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.During his time at HAL, he has worked on evaluating Unmanned Vehicle displays, and human-computer Collaborative Decision-Making. Currently, he works on Interruption Recovery during Human-Supervisory missions. Outside of MIT and HAL, he enjoys traveling, camping, snowboarding, and almost any other sport. back to top |
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Edgar (Ned) Twigg email: bwayr "at" mit.edu Edgar Twigg is a sophomore in the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His academic interests include control engineering and systems modeling. At HAL, his primary role is adding features to user interfaces and implementing experiment data collection over the internet. Outside of school, Edgar can be found doing homework and occasionally sleeping. back to top |
Visiting Students |
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Farzan Sosangohar email: farzans "at" mit.edu Farzan is an MASc candidate in System Design Engineering at University of Waterloo, Canada. He's also an MSc candidate in Human Computer Interaction at Lund University, Sweden. He received his BCS in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo, Canada in 2007and his BA in Information Technology from the York University, Canada, in 2008. He also holds an undergraduate degree and has some work experience in Architecture. Farzan's research interests include Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Supported Cooperative Work. His current research focus is on Interruption Recovery in Human-Supervisory task environments. |
Affiliated Faculty and Researchers |
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Duncan A. Campbell: Engineering
Systems, Queensland University of
Technology (QUT)
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Staff |
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Sally Chapman email: sallyc "at" mit.edu Sally Chapman has Bachelor of Fine Art from Michigan State University and worked as a studio artist for many years before finding her way to graphics/web design and MIT employment. She works as administrative assistant to three faculty members in the Aero/Astro department including Prof. Missy Cummings. back to top |