Vijay Kumar (roboticist)

Vijay Kumar (born 12 April 1962) is an Indian roboticist and UPS foundation professor in the School of Engineering & Applied Science with secondary appointments in computer and information science and electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, and became the new Dean of Penn Engineering on 1 July 2015.

Kumar is known for his research in the control and coordination of multi-robot formations. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2018.

Education

 * B.Tech., Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India, May 1983
 * M.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, March 1988
 * Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, September 1987

Honours and awards

 * The Ohio State University Presidential Fellowship (1986)
 * NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1991)
 * Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, University of Pennsylvania (1996)
 * The Ferdinand Freudenstein Award for significant contributions to mechanisms and robotics awarded at the 5th National Conference on Mechanisms and Robotics (1997)
 * Best paper award, Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (2002)
 * Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2003)
 * Kayamori Best Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (2004)
 * IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Distinguished Lecturer (2005)
 * Fellow, Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (2005)
 * IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Distinguished Award (2012)
 * George H. Heilmeier Faculty Award for Excellence in Research (2013)
 * Member, National Academy of Engineering (2013)
 * Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award (2013)
 * IIT Kanpur Distinguished Alumnus Award 2013–14, for his outstanding contributions to the area of control and coordination of multi-robot formations.
 * The Joseph Engelberger Award by the Robotics Industries Association (2014)
 * IEEE Robotics and Automation Award (2020)