CECD Hosts Symposium on Autonomy
College Park, MD, May 16, 2014
On May 15, 2014, the Center for Energetic Concepts Development together with the Department of Mechanical Engineering hosted a one-day symposium on autonomy. The Symposium was attended by representatives from industry, government laboratories, and faculty members from the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. Participants were welcomed by Prof. Davinder K. Anand, Director of CECD, and Prof. Bala Balachandran, Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department. The Honorable John L.Bohanan, Jr., Democrat, District 29B, St. Mary's County, made a special appearance at the symposium and addressed the participants, highlighting the role universities play in the skilled workforce development. Present at the symposium was also Prof. Darryll Pines, Dean of the Clark School of Engineering.
The pace of development of the autonomous operation of engineered systems, performing complex multistep tasks is accelerating. Fundamental to the implementation of autonomy is a control system comprised of sensors, actuators and high speed computational capability coupled with governing mathematical algorithms. This brings into focus the essential contributions of engineering and consideration of engineering disciplines necessary to develop the underlying technologies for autonomous systems. The successful application of autonomy is an interdisciplinary activity and requires significant contributions made by all branches of engineering.
Photo Gallery:
