Nikolaus Correll (born 1977 in Munich, Germany) is a roboticist and a professor at the University of Notre Dame where he holds the Viola D. Hank Chair in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and an adoint professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Department of Computer Science. Correll has been the founder and CTO of Robotic Materials Inc.
Biography Correll obtained a Diploma (Masters) in Electrical Engineering from the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. He spent the first two years of his studies at the Technische Hochschule München, participated in the Erasmus Programme to spend a semester at Lunds Tekniska Hogsköla working with Rolf Johansson and wrote his Diploma thesis at Caltech working with Alcherio Martinoli and Joel Burdick.
Correll received his Dr. és science (Phd) degree in Computer Science in 2007 at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) working under Alcherio Martinoli. Correll did a post-doc with Prof. Daniela Rus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He became an assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2009, was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2017.
Correll is the recipient of a 2012 NSF CAREER award,CAREER: Modeling and Design of Composite Swarming Behaviors the 2012 NASA Early Career Faculty Fellowship,Universities Go to Space: NASA Announces Early Career Faculty Space Tech Research Grants, August 14, 2012 and a 2016 Provost Faculty Achievement Award. He is a senior member of the IEEE.
Work Correll's research is on Swarm Robotics, Swarm Intelligence, and Self-organization. He is using these concepts to equip composite materials with intelligence and enabling robots with autonomy,Materials that Couple Sensing, Actuation, Computation, and Communication, CCC Innovative Great Ideas, November 2, 2015 for which he coined the term Robotic MaterialsM. A. McEvoy and N. Correll. Materials that couple sensing, actuation, computation and communication. Science 347(6228) and founded a company of the same name,Robotic Materials Inc. which markets robotic manipulation systems based on smart tactile sensors, skins and hands.
Correll is also an active researcher in robotics educationN. Correll, R. Wing, D. Coleman (2013): A One Year Introductory Robotics Curriculum for Computer Science Upperclassmen. In: IEEE Transactions on Education, 56 (1), pp. 54-60, 2013 and is the author of an open-source,Introduction to Autonomous Robots on Github.com, last retrieved Nov 9, 2015. collaborative textbook "Introduction to Autonomous Robots".N. Correll. Introduction to Autonomous Robots.
Correll's work on robotic materials has received worldwide media attention including the Associated Press, Neue Zuercher Zeitung,Roboter im Schwarm: Der Automat als Herdentier, Neue Zuercher Zeitung, June 26, 2013. the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine,Next-Generation Robots Offer Sophisticated Mobility, Manipulation, and Sensing Capabilities, IEEE Signal Processing Magazine 30(5):11-13. and Popular Science,Autonomous Materials will let Future Robots Change Color and Shift Shape, Popular Science, March 19, 2015. among others.
Correll has been an advisor to TempAlert (acquired,Digi International Acquires TempAlert NASDAQ: DGII), TABS, and Occam Robotics, and currently to Robotise SE.
Academic legacy Since starting at the University of Colorado in 2009, two of Correll's former PhD students have taken up faculty jobs at PhD-granting institutions:
Erik Komendera, PhD 2014, Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech Michael Otte, PhD 2011, Assistant Professor in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park
References
External links Correll lab at the University of Colorado