Matthew Spenko

  • Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Co-Pi, CARNATIONS

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Education

Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2001
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 1999

Research Interests

  • Electrostatic gecko-like adhesives for climbing, perching, and manipulation
  • Navigation integrity for self-driving cars and other mobile robots
  • Granular-based soft robots
  • Robots for exploring, measuring, and sampling tree biota

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

Senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Awards

  • Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, Armour College of Engineering, 2022
  • MMAE Excellence in Research Award, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2018
  • MMAE Excellence in Teaching Award, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2014 and 2017
  • One of 21 Researchers to Know, Illinois Science and Technology Coalition, 2019
  • Named a Top Researcher of 2015, Chicago Inno
  • IIT/Bauer Family Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, IIT, 2014
  • Best Paper, Planetary Rovers Session, Int. Society of Terrain-Vehicle Systems, 2011
  • Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship, May-July 2009
  • Best Paper Award, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2008
  • Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, August 2005-July 2007
  • Best Student Paper, IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2007
  • Best Paper Finalist, IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2007
  • Best Paper, Unmanned Vehicles Session, Army Science Conference, 2006
  • Best Conference Paper runner up, Army Science Conference, 2006 

Publications

Google Scholar Citations

Expertise

Control, dynamics, mechanical design, and soft robotics

Media Appearances

Illinois Tech Team Competes in XPrize Foundation’s $10 Million Rainforest Competition

Inside Unmanned Systems

“I’ve always tried to focus on mobility and challenging environments,” said Matt Spenko, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology. “I worked on my post-doc on climbing robots and then transitioned into multimodal robots that could both fly and have terrestrial locomotion. I’ve had a side interest in ecology, and it’s sort of melding with robotics and field work.”

Professor Matt Spenko Uses Drone-Delivered Sensors to Identify Birds in the Rainforest

The Week

Welcome to the Jungle, a team comprised of several American engineering professors, is one step closer to winning the prestigious XPRIZE Rainforest competition. The global contest runs for five years, with the goal of finding ways to enhance understanding of the rainforest ecosystem. Led by Illinois Tech Professor Matthew Spenko, Welcome to the Jungle has been using drones to deliver and retrieve sensors to the rainforest that can identify birds and other species through audio and visual data.