Thomas M. Howard
Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, 2009
- Office Location
- 732 Computer Studies Building
- Telephone
- (585) 275-3755
- Fax
- (585) 273-4919
Short Biography
Thomas Howard joined the University of Rochester in 2015 and is currently an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. He received a PhD in robotics from The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical and computer engineering and mechanical engineering from the University of Rochester. Previously he held appointments as a research scientist and a postdoctoral associate at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, a research technologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a lecturer in mechanical engineering at Caltech. Professor Howard has taught courses on mechatronics, embedded systems, autonomous mobile robots, and robot control.
Research Overview
Professor Howard’s research interests span artificial intelligence, robotics, motion planning, and human-robot interaction with a focus on improving the optimality, efficiency, and feasibility of models for decision making in complex and unstructured environments. His research has been recognized with a variety of awards, including a Best Paper Award at Robotics: Science and Systems (2016), a Wilmot Assistant Professorship (2019), a NASA Early Career Faculty Award (2019), and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2022).
Research Interests
- Artificial Intelligence
- Robotics
- Motion Planning
- Human-Robot Interaction