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Great Minds Think Differently

Faculty Profile - Ayanna MacCalla Howard

Professor; Motorola Foundation Professor
Systems and Controls

Phone: 404.385.4824
Office: TSRB 444

http://HumAnSlab.ece.gatech.edu

Biography

Dr. Ayanna Howard received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Brown University, her M.S.E.E. from the University of Southern California, and her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles in 1999. Her area of research is centered around the concept of humanized intelligence, the process of embedding human cognitive capability into the control path of autonomous systems. This work, which addresses issues of autonomous control as well as aspects of interaction with humans and the surrounding environment, has resulted in over 100 peer-reviewed publications in a number of projects – from scientific rover navigation in glacier environments to assistive robots for the home. To date, her unique accomplishments have been documented in over 12 featured articles - including being named as one of the world's top young innovators of 2003 by the prestigious MIT Technology Review journal and in TIME magazine's "Rise of the Machines" article in 2004.

From 1993-2005, Dr. Howard was at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, where she led research efforts on various robotic projects utilizing vision, fuzzy logic, and neural network methodologies. In 2005, she joined the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, where she is a member of the systems and controls technical interest group and the founder of the Human-Automation Systems (HumAnS) Laboratory. Dr. Howard is also a member of the Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines at Georgia Tech and currently serves as the robotics Ph.D. program coordinator.

Selected Publications, Patents

Research Interests
  • Human-Inspired Control
  • Robotics/Space Robotics
  • Perception and Reasoning
  • Assistive/Rehabilitation Robotics
Distinctions
  • IEEE Early Career Award in Robotics, 2005
  • MIT Technology Review Top 100 Young Innovator of the Year, 2003
  • Engineer of the Year Award, LA Council of Engineers and Scientists, 2004
  • Allstate Insurance Distinguished Honoree for achievement in science, 2004
  • ECE Outreach Award, 2008
  • Georgia Tech Faculty Woman of Distinction Award, 2008
  • Janice A. Lumpkin Educator of the Year Award, given by the National Society of Black Engineers, 2009

Last revised on October 29, 2012.