Maruthi R. Akella
Assistant Professor
Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
Phone: (512) 471-9493
Fax: (512) 471-3788
Email: makella@mail.utexas.edu
Dr. Maruthi R. Akella earned his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M University in 1998. He joined the faculty of the College of Engineering in 1999, and works with the Center for Space Research and the Center for Aeromechanics Research.
Dr. Akella researches the control of networks of highly-complex systems, concentrating on dynamic model uncertainties due to large-scale variability in the operating environments, and time-delays arising from inter-agent communications. Akella has significantly advanced the development of high-performance adaptive control algorithms for many types of aerospace-mechanical systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous robotic platforms and distributed spacecraft clusters. He is currently developing an algorithm to efficiently operate autonomous sensor networks with homeland security applications such as improvised explosive device detection and surveillance. Akella is also involved in a research group working for the U.S. Air Force to develop engine control designs that enable stable and reliable space vehicle flight operations.
Research Interests:
- Nonlinear and robust adaptive control
- Dynamics of networked systems and sensors
- Control applications for supersonic flows