Michael Kaess, a professor in Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, has been named an inaugural fellow in the Office of Naval Research's (ONR) Chief of Naval Research Fellows program.

Kaess, who leads the Robot Perception Lab in CMU's School of Computer Science, was one of 12 researchers selected from more than 180 nominations representing about 70 academic institutions across the United States. The one-year fellowship will give researchers firsthand experience with the ONR and the science and technology challenges facing the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

His research focuses on mobile robot autonomy, particularly the technologies that allow robots to map and navigate their surroundings using data from cameras, lasers, sonar and other sensors. As part of the fellowship, Kaess will work with ONR program officers, review research proposals and help identify new research areas.

The inaugural class also includes Yuxiong Wang, an associate professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who earned his Ph.D. in robotics at CMU in 2018 and later served as a postdoctoral fellow at the university. The fellows are scheduled to be formally welcomed to the program in October at ONR headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

For more information, visit the Office of Naval Research website.