Naira Hovakimyan
Born(1966-09-21)September 21, 1966
Yerevan, Armenia
NationalityArmenian
CitizenshipArmenian American
Alma materYerevan State University, Yerevan
Known for
  • L1 adaptive control
  • Neural Network based adaptive control
  • Transition of robust adaptive controls to aerospace applications
  • Cooperative control of autonomous systems
  • Differential games on manifolds
  • Application of robotics to elderly care[1]
Awards
  • AIAA Pendray Aerospace Literature Award[2](2019)
  • ASME Fellow[3](2023)
  • IEEE Fellow[4](2018)
  • AIAA Fellow[5](2017)
  • CSS Award for Technical Excellence in Aerospace Control[6](2017)
  • Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award[7] (2015)
  • Humboldt prize for lifetime achievements, Alexander von Humboldt foundation, Germany[8](2014)
  • AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight award[9](2011)
  • Pride at Boeing Award Recipient (2004, 2005, 2007)
Scientific career
FieldsAdaptive control, Robust control, Differential Games, Machine Learning, Flight Control and Robotics
InstitutionsUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Yerevan State University, Yerevan
Institute of Applied Mathematics of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
Academic advisors

Naira Hovakimyan (born September 21, 1966)[11] is an Armenian control theorist who holds the W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins professorship of the Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[12] She is the director of AVIATE Center[13] of flying cars at UIUC, funded through a NASA University Leadership Initiative.[14] She was the inaugural director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory during 2015–2017, associated with the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[15][16]

Education

Naira Hovakimyan received her MS degree in Theoretical Mechanics and Applied Mathematics in 1988 from Yerevan State University in Armenia. She got her Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics in 1992, in Moscow, from the Institute of Applied Mathematics of Russian Academy of Sciences, majoring in optimal control and differential games.

Academic life

Before joining the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 2008, Naira Hovakimyan has spent time as a research scientist at Stuttgart University in Germany, at INRIA in France, at Georgia Institute of Technology, and she was on faculty of Aerospace and Ocean engineering of Virginia Tech during 2003–2008. She is currently W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering at UIUC. In 2015, she was named as inaugural director for Intelligent Robotics Laboratory[17] of CSL at UIUC. Currently she is the director of AVIATE Center[13] of flying cars at UIUC, funded through a NASA University Leadership Initiative.[14] She has co-authored two books,[18][19] ten book chapters, eleven patents, and more than 450 journal and conference papers.

Research areas

Her research interests are in control and optimization, autonomous systems, machine learning, cybersecurity, neural networks, game theory and their applications in aerospace, robotics, mechanical, agricultural, electrical, petroleum, biomedical engineering and elderly care.

Honors

She is the 2011 recipient of AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight award,[9] the 2015 recipient of SWE Achievement Award,[7] the 2017 recipient of IEEE CSS Award for Technical Excellence in Aerospace Controls,[6] and the 2019 recipient of AIAA Pendray Aerospace Literature Award.[2] In 2014 she was awarded the Humboldt prize for her lifetime achievements and was recognized as Hans Fischer senior fellow of Technical University of Munich.[8] She is Fellow and life member of AIAA,[5] Fellow of IEEE,[4] Fellow of ASME,[3] and Senior Member of National Academy of Inventors,[20]. In 2015 and 2023 she was recognized as outstanding advisor by Engineering Council of UIUC.[21] Naira is co-founder and Chief Scientist of IntelinAir.[22]

She is named 2017 Commencement Speaker of the American University of Armenia.[23] She has been listed among 50 Global Armenians in the world by Mediamax[24] and was a member of the FAST (The Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology) advisory board.[25] She is also advising a few startup companies.

In 2021 she was one of the speakers of TEDxYerevan event.[26] In 2022, she was awarded a Fulbright fellowship from the US Department of State. In 2022, she founded the AVIATE Center[13] of flying cars at UIUC.

References

  1. ↑ Markoff, John (4 December 2015). "New York Times Article - As Aging Population Grows So do Robotic Health Aides". The New York Times.
  2. 1 2 "Pendray Aerospace Literature Award".
  3. 1 2 "ASME Fellows" (PDF).
  4. 1 2 "IEEE Fellows 2018" (PDF). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
  5. 1 2 "AIAA Fellows 2017".
  6. 1 2 "Award for Technical Excellence in Aerospace Controls".
  7. 1 2 "SWE Award".
  8. 1 2 "Humboldt Prize".
  9. 1 2 "Mechanics & Control of Flight Award". Archived from the original on 2018-11-19. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  10. ↑ "Arik Melikyan IEEEXplore".
  11. ↑ Naira Hovakimyan's biography
  12. ↑ "Mechanical Science and Engineering, UIUC". Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  13. 1 2 3 "AVIATE Center".
  14. 1 2 "NASA University Leadership Initiative".
  15. ↑ "Letter from the Director". Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  16. ↑ "Coordinated Science Laboratory, UIUC". Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  17. ↑ [robotics.illinois.edu] Intelligent Robotics Laboratory
  18. ↑ Time-Critical Cooperative Control of Autonomous Air Vehicles
  19. ↑ L1 Adaptive Control Theory
  20. ↑ "NAI Senior Members 2023" (PDF).
  21. ↑ "MechSE sweeps Outstanding Advisor Awards".
  22. ↑ "Intelinair Website - About us".
  23. ↑ "AUA Graduate Commencement 2017". YouTube.
  24. ↑ "50 Global Armenians".
  25. ↑ "The FAST Foundation announced the formation of the Advisory Board and the appointment of the CEO".
  26. ↑ "The hidden cost of resistance to innovation in science". YouTube.
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