Dr. Erik Antonsson is
a
Professor of
Mechanical Engineering
at the
California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena, CA, U.S.A., where he
organized the
Engineering Design Research Laboratory
and has conducted research and taught since 1984.
From September, 2002 through January, 2006
Dr. Antonsson was on leave
from Caltech and served as the
Chief Technologist
at
NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
(JPL Press Release |
Pasadena Star News article)
The
Chief Technologist reports directly to the Director of
JPL
and has responsibility
for planning, implementing, and leading
JPL's
advanced technology R&D strategy.
Dr. Antonsson
provided
intellectual leadership for the Laboratory in the strategic planning of
advanced technology;
guidance and direction for approximately 550 technology researchers
(approximately $350M per year in NASA and non-NASA R&D funding);
and
served as a member of JPL's
Executive Council,
Strategic Management Council (SMC),
Project & Engineering Management Council (PEMC),
and as the senior representative to
NASA
Headquarters and other
NASA
centers and other government agencies for
JPL
basic technology research.
He also
had responsibilty for
top-level coordination and assessment of
technology work and infusion into flight
activities;
policies and procedures relating to intellectual property and
technology transfer;
strategic university research partnerships and strategic technology
partnerships with industry and government laboratories;
managed approximately 30 technology and support personnel;
served as co-chair of the
JPL's Science and Technology Management Council (STMC);
coordinated with Chief Scientist on allocation of
the Laboratory's Research & Technology Development (R&TD) Fund,
the Director's Research Discretionary Fund (DRDF)
the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) for
strategic hires in Science & Technology R&D,
and other internal funds related to science and technology research
and development (totaling approximately $50M per year).
In this position he also had responsibility for
organizational structure and
succession planning for technology R&D leadership,
policies and procedures relating to ITAR and export control,
and for
developing metrics for earned value management.
Dr. Antonsson continued to hold his Professorial position at Caltech while
on leave at
JPL,
and spent one day/week on campus directing his research group.
After stepping down as Chief Technologist,
Dr. Antonsson was appointed a
Distinguished Visiting Scientist
at
JPL.
He earned a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering with distinction from
Cornell University
in 1976, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in 1982 under
the supervision of
Prof. Robert W. Mann.
In 1983 he joined the Mechanical Engineering faculty at the
University of Utah,
as an Assistant Professor.
In 1984 he founded and was appointed the Technical
Director of the
Pediatric Mobility and
Gait Laboratory,
and an Assistant in Bioengineering (Orthopaedic Surgery), at the
Massachusetts General Hospital.
He also simultaneously joined the faculty of the
Harvard University
Medical School
as an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics (Bioengineering).
In 1984 he joined the
Mechanical Engineering
faculty at the
California Institute of Technology.
He was an
NSF
Presidential Young Investigator
(1986-1992),
and won the
1995
Richard P. Feynman
Prize for Excellence in Teaching,
and is a co-winner of the 2001
TRW
Distinguished Patent Award.
Dr. Antonsson is
a Fellow of the
ASME,
and a member of the
IEEE,
AIAA,
SME,
ACM,
and
ASEE.
He
teaches courses
in
engineering design,
computer aided
engineering design, machine design, mechanical systems, and
kinematics.
He originated, and teaches, the highly popular
ME72
engineering design contest class,
where students get a real-world opportunity to learn how to
design new devices.
His
research accomplishments
include the development of
formal methods for
engineering decisions and trade-offs
and for representing and manipulating
imprecision
and
preferences
in engineering design,
set-based
engineering design
(research on these topics was initiated in 1984),
automated methods for
synthesis of engineering
designs,
structured engineering design synthesis of
micro-electro-mechanical
systems (MEMS)
using evolutionary methods (including genetic algorithms),
and the invention and development of
digital
micropropulsion microthrusters.
Dr. Antonsson
is currently on the editorial board of the International Journal:
Research in Engineering Design, and
from 1998 to 2004 served
on the editorial board of the International Journal:
Fuzzy Sets and Systems,
and
from 1989 to 1993
served as an Associate Technical Editor of the
ASME
Journal of Mechanical Design,
(formerly the
Journal of Mechanisms, Transmissions and Automation in Design),
with responsibility for the Design Research and the
Design Theory and Methodology area.
He served Executive Officer (Chair) of
Mechanical Engineering
at the California Institute of Technology
from 1998 to 2002.
He served as a member of the
Faculty Board of the California Institute of Technology (2001-2003),
and as a member of the
Engineering and Applied Science
Division Steering Committee (DSC, 2001-2002) and
Division Advisory Group (DAG, 2000-2002),
and served as
Director of the
Engineering Computing Facility (ECF)
at Caltech (1995-2002),
and as
a member of the
Caltech/MIT Voting Technology
Project (2001-2002).
He was a member
of the Caltech Faculty Committee on Patents and Relations with Industry
(1992-1999), and since 1990 has been a member of the
WestStart - CALSTART
Technical Advisory Committee.
He has published over
110
scholarly papers
in the engineering design research literature,
has edited
two
books,
and holds
eight
U.S. Patents.
He is a Registered Professional Engineer in California, and serves as an
engineering design consultant to industry, research laboratories
(including
NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
and the
10 meter W. M. Keck Telescope),
and to the Intellectual Property bar.
Publication
List indexed by key. (PDF)
Contact Information.
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Last updated
9:50:01 AM PDT, Monday, July 10, 2006
