Michael Milford

https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847

Michael Milford is a leading robotics researcher conducting interdisciplinary research at the boundary between robotics, neuroscience and computer vision, and a multi-award winning educational entrepreneur. He currently holds the position of Associate Professor at the Queensland University of Technology, as well as Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Microsoft Research Faculty Fellow and Chief Investigator on the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision.

His research has attracted more than twenty million dollars in research and industry funding, both in the form of sole investigator fellowships and large team grants. Michael’s papers have won (4) or been finalists (7) for 11 best paper awards including the 2012 Best Vision paper at ICRA2012. His citation h-index is 21, with 1773 citations as of May 29, 2016. Michael has given more than 30 invited presentations across ten countries at top international conferences, universities (including Harvard, MIT, CMU, Boston Uni, Cambridge and Imperial College London) and corporations (including Google and Microsoft).

As an educational entrepreneur, Michael has written and produced innovative textbooks for high school students for fifteen years, with more than 6000 physical sales and educational website and YouTube views in excess of 1.5 million. He is currently launching the company Math Thrills, an initiative combining mass market entertainment and STEM education. Math Thrills received pre-seed funding on Kickstarter ($2500) and seed funding ($50,000) from QUT Bluebox and is in initial school trials. The initiative has led to prestigious awards including the 2015 Queensland Young Tall Poppy of the Year Award and a 2015 TedXQUT talk.

Michael has dual citizenship between Australia and the United States, and has lived and worked in locations including Boston, USA and Edinburgh and London in the UK, collaborating with organizations including Harvard University, Boston University, Oxford University, MIT, Edinburgh University, Imperial College London, Caterpillar and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Experience–presentAssociate Professor in Electrical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology2011–2015Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology2010–2011Research Fellow, Queensland University of Technology2007–2010Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandEducation2014 Queensland University of Technology, Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice2006 University of Queensland, PhD2002 University of Queensland, Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical and Space)Publications2013Vision-based place recognition: how low can you go?, International Journal of Robotics Research2012CAT-SLAM: probabilistic localisation and mapping using a continuous appearance-based trajectory, International Journal of Robotics Research2011The Race to Learn: Spike Timing and STDP Can Coordinate Learning and Recall in CA3, Hippocampus2010Solving Navigational Uncertainty Using Grid Cells on Robots, PLoS Computational Biology2010Persistent Navigation and Mapping using a Biologically Inspired SLAM System, International Journal of Robotics Research2008Mapping a Suburb with a Single Camera using a Biologically Inspired SLAM System, IEEE Transactions on Robotics2008Robot Navigation From Nature, Springer Tracts in Advanced RoboticsGrants and Contracts2015Superhuman place recognition with a unified model of human visual processing and rodent spatial memory ($676,000)Role:Future FellowFunding Source:Australian Research Council2014Center of Excellence in Robotic Vision ($19,000,000)Role:Chief InvestigatorFunding Source:Australian Research Council2013Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship ($110,000)Role:Microsoft FellowFunding Source:Microsoft2012Visual navigation for sunny summer days and stormy winter nights ($375,000)Role:DECRA FellowFunding Source:Australian Research Council2012Brain-based Sensor Fusion for Navigating Robots ($140,000)Role:Chief InvestigatorFunding Source:Australian Research CouncilProfessional MembershipsIEEEAustralian Robotics and Automation AssociationResearch AreasComputer Vision (080104)Neurosciences Not Elsewhere Classified (110999)Adaptive Agents And Intelligent Robotics (080101)Honours
Queensland Young Tall Poppy of the Year 2015 Brisbane, Australia Website @maththrills Article Feed michael.milford@qut.edu.au ORCID JoinedJune 3, 2016