Deepak Pathak, the Raj Reddy Associate Professor of Robotics in Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute (RI), has received a 2026 Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (PAMI) Young Researcher Award at the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR). This award is among the highest honors in computer vision for early-career researchers and recognizes distinguished contributions to the field.

Pathak is recognized for influential contributions spanning computer vision, machine learning and robotics. His research has helped develop new ways for AI systems to learn from images, videos and experiences rather than relying solely on large amounts of human-labeled training data. He also pioneered approaches that use curiosity to help intelligent systems explore and develop new skills on their own. More recently, his work has advanced robot learning, helping robots adapt to unfamiliar environments and learn from large collections of human videos. His research has helped bridge computer vision and robotics, bringing advances in perception, learning and control together to create more capable autonomous systems.

At CMU, Pathak leads the Pathak Research Group. Drawing inspiration from psychology, the group works at the intersection of computer vision, machine learning and robotics to design practical, adaptable systems capable of operating beyond carefully scripted conditions. Pathak is also co-founder and CEO of Skild AI, a startup aimed at building a general-purpose foundation model for robotics currently valued at more than $14 billion.

The annual PAMI award, managed by the IEEE Technical Committee on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, includes a $3,000 prize and recognizes researchers within seven years of completing their Ph.D.

For more information about the award, visit the Computer Vision Foundation website.

For More Information: Aaron Aupperlee | 412-268-9068 | aaupperlee@cmu.edu

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