GEDC Adds Three New Professors to Its Research Faculty

Magnus B. Egerstedt

Atlanta (January 25, 2006) — The Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) has added three new research professors to the roster of Georgia Institute of Technology faculty who conduct research at the center.

Joining GEDC are Magnus B. Egerstedt, Ayanna M. Howard and Kevin T. Kornegay. All three will teach at Georgia Tech in addition to conducting research at GEDC.

ìThis is a red-letter semester for the Georgia Electronic Design Center,î said Joy Laskar, GEDC director. ìWe are being joined by three fine scientists who will augment the already world-class quality of our research effort.î

GEDC, the nation's largest university-based mixed-signal research team, performs research fostering development of new communications technology in wireless/RF, wired/copper and fiber channel applications. It has 20 research professors, more than 150 graduate students, 41 member companies and federal agency partners, and conducts approximately $10 million in research annually.

Ayanna M. Howard

Egerstedt, an assistant professor with Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is now associated with GEDC.

His research interests include optimal control as well as modeling and analysis of hybrid and discrete event systems, with emphasis on motion planning and control of mobile robots. A Senior Member of the IEEE, he received the prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation in 2003.

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Egerstedt received a Ph.D. degree in applied mathematics from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, in 2000. He also received a B.A. degree in philosophy from Stockholm University in 1996. He spent 2000-2001 as a postdoctoral fellow at the Division of Engineering and Applied Science at Harvard University.

"I am particularly interested in producing theory, algorithms, and tools for controlling teams of mobile, autonomous robots in unknown environments," Egerstedt said. "Such questions are receiving significant interest lately due to their potential applications in autonomous search-and-rescue or exploration scenarios in hazardous environments."

Kevin T. Kornegay

Howard pursues research on transplanting human-like reasoning powers in robotic systems. She founded the Human-Automation Systems (HumAnS) Laboratory, located in the Technology Square Research Building that also houses GEDCís laboratories and administration.

From 1993-2005, Howard worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory where she led research efforts on various robotic projects. She received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California in 1999 and earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Brown University in 1993.

A member of the Systems and Controls group in Georgia Techís School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Howard will serve as an associate professor in addition to her GEDC work.

ìMy primary emphasis is on space and field robotics, to help robots act robustly, and safely, among humans in hazardous environments, in space and in the home,î Howard said. ìRobotics needs to transition successfully from the research environment to industry, and I believe that GEDC provides the foundation for allowing this to happen.î

Howard was recently named to the 2006 class of Young Global Leaders, an international award that recognizes business, government, and academic leaders who are 40 years old or younger. She was also chosen as one of the top young innovators of 2003 by the MIT Technology Review, and she appeared in Time magazine's "Rise of the Machines" article in 2004.

Kornegay specializes in the design of millimeter-wave integrated circuits for high speed data communications. His interests include mixed-signal IC, MMW/sub-MMWIC and RFIC design, and wireless/wired broadband data communication systems.

Formerly on the faculty of the Cornell University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kornegay received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California-Berkeley in 1992 and a bachelor of electrical engineering from Pratt Institute in 1985. At Georgia Tech he will serve as Motorola Foundation Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) as well as a GEDC research leader.

ìI prefer to design ICs that focus on the mixed signal components, so I work at the interface between the digital world and the analog world,î Kornegay said.

He added that he joined GEDC ìbecause of the rich diversity of research that the design center is involved with, along with the caliber of the faculty and the quality of the students.î

Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (john.toon@edi.gatech.edu) or Rick Robinson, Georgia Electronic Design Center (404-385-2562); (rick.robinson@edi.gatech.edu).