Professor Kenneth Goldberg

Biography

Goldberg is Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, with an appointment in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He received his PhD in Computer Science from CMU in 1990 and studied at the University of Pennsylvania, Edinburgh University, and the Technion. From 1991-95 he taught at the University of Southern California, and in Fall 2000 was visiting faculty at MIT Media Lab.

Goldberg and his students work in two areas: Geometric Algorithms for Automation, and Networked Robots. In the first category, he develops algorithms for feeding, sorting, and fixturing industrial parts, with an emphasis on mathematically rigorous solutions that require a minimum of sensing and actuation so as to reduce costs and increase reliability. In the area of Networked Robots, Goldberg and colleagues developed the first robot publicly operable via the Internet (in 1994). He has published over 100 research papers and edited four books.

In 2004, Goldberg co-founded the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering and is Founding Chair of its Advisory Board. Goldberg was named National Science Foundation Young Investigator in 1994 and NSF Presidential Faculty Fellow in 1995. He is the recipient of the Joseph Engelberger Award (2000), the IEEE Major Educational Innovation Award (2001) and was elected IEEE Fellow in 2005.

The mission of the CITRIS Data and Democracy Initiative is to advance information and communications technologies such as mobile applications and social media that will allow individuals of all backgrounds to enhance their individual and collective awareness, participation, discovery, and decision-making related to critical civic and societal issues. The Data and Democracy Initiative is collaborating with the UC Santa Cruz Center for Games and Playable Media, and UC Berkeley’s Center for New Media (BCNM), Human Rights Center, Social Apps Lab, and the Algorithms, Machines, and People (AMP) Lab among others along with companies, government and non-profit organizations. “This is exactly what governments need,” noted Alec Ross, Senior Advisor for Innovation to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.