Prof. Venkat Krovi

As the esteemed Michelin Endowed Chair of Vehicle Automation, Prof. Venkat N. Krovi graces both the Departments of Automotive Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University. His academic journey culminated with a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, a degree he pursued at the revered University of Pennsylvania, earning his doctorate in 1998.

The research activities have consistently aimed to leverage the power of both autonomous agents and humans to expand the capabilities of human users in challenging environments. This exploration of distributed autonomy and human-robot synergy has unlocked new opportunities in various fields, including plant automation, consumer electronics, automotive, defense, and healthcare/surgical simulation.

The primary focus lies in leveraging heterogeneous, loosely interconnected physical and information systems to develop high-confidence and reconfigurable operational capabilities in the face of uncertainties. The research approach combines design and control techniques to achieve system-level performance that surpasses the capabilities of individual components. The lifecycle treatment approach, encompassing design, modeling, analysis, control, implementation, and verification, emphasizes both theoretical formulation and experimental validation in the development of novel robotic and mechatronic systems.

The work has received funding from NSF, DARPA, ARO, as well as numerous state and industrial grants, and has garnered multiple awards, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award and the Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award. Several best poster, conference, and journal paper awards have also been received. The findings have been published in over 200 journal/conference articles and book chapters, as well as patents.

Significant leadership roles have been undertaken in robotics research and education within various professional societies. Notably, leadership positions have been held within the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), including roles in the Design Materials and Manufacturing (DMM) Segment Leadership Team (~25,000 members) and as Chair of the Mechanisms and Robotics Committee. Within the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, involvement includes serving on the Executive Committee (ExCom) of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (~30,000 members) and previous service on the Conference Activities Board (CAB) and Industrial Activities Board (IAB).

Active participation is demonstrated as an organizing committee member for numerous ASME and IEEE conferences. Recent notable roles include serving as General Chair of the 2014 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC14) and as Finance Chair of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (CASE10, ICRA12, IROS14, and ICRA19). Currently, the individual serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics. Past roles include serving as an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Robotics, ASME Dynamic Systems Magazine, ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, and the Springer Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics.