University of Pennsylvania, PA

United States

Research Areas

Computer Science, Control Theory, Robot Programming, Robots

Biography

Max Mintz was born on September 4th, 1942. He completed a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Cornell University, as well as a Ph.D. in Systems Theory. At Yale University he completed his post-doctoral work and served as an Assistant Professor in Control Theory and Electrical Engineering for a few years. Afterwards he taught at the University of Illinois until 1974 when he joined the Electrical Systems Engineering department at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1984, Ruzena Bajcsy invited him to join the GRASP Lab, which turned his research interests in robotics towards control theory and decision-making under uncertainty. While he initially a professor of Systems Engineering, in 1986 he switched to his current position in the Department of Computer Science and Information Science.

Interview Synopsis

In this interview, Max Mintz discusses his career in robotics, focusing on control theory and decision-making under uncertainty. Describing his time at the CSL and the GRASP Lab, he outlines the influences and challenges of his work. Reflecting on the evolution of robotics, he comments on the outstanding problems of the field and its relationship with other disciplines.