{"295611":{"#nid":"295611","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Remembers Mike Stilman","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAssistant Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~mstilman\/\u0022\u003EMike Stilman\u003C\/a\u003E, recognized as an emerging leader in humanoid robotics research, died following an apparent accident at his Atlanta home on Tuesday, May 6.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStilman, who was recently awarded tenure and scheduled to be promoted to associate professor effective Aug. 16, joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 2008 after receiving his Ph.D. in robotics from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are stunned by this news about our colleague and friend Mike,\u201d said Annie Ant\u00f3n, professor and chair of the School of Interactive Computing. \u201cHis promise as a brilliant young researcher was shown this year by his promotion to a tenured position and his winning of a prestigious institute-wide teaching award. This is a loss from which we will not easily recover.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn active member of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM)\u003C\/a\u003E at Tech, Stilman founded the Humanoid Robotics Lab, also known as \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.golems.org\/\u0022\u003EGolems.org\u003C\/a\u003E, where he led a team of graduate students and researchers on projects designed to develop \u201crobot brains,\u201d or algorithms, capable of the same level of dexterity, intelligent planning and interaction as human brains.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMike was a pioneer on motion planning and humanoids,\u201d said Henrik Christensen, executive director of IRIM. \u201cHe was breaking new ground in his research, but he was also an eminent teacher. His energy was contagious, and he was always ready to push us even further. He will be sorely missed as part of the robotics and broader community at Georgia Tech.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs an assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing, Stilman oversaw the research projects of 16 graduate students and several undergraduates. Recognized by students as a favorite in the classroom, he taught several robotics courses, including Robot Intelligence and Humanoid Robotics, and earned the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2014\/04\/14\/2014-faculty-and-staff-institute-honors-list\u0022\u003EClass of 1940 W. Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher Award\u003C\/a\u003E for the past academic year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKnown for his enthusiasm for humanoids (his Georgia license plate reads \u201cGOLEM\u201d) as well as his abundance of energy, Stilman was active in the broader robotics research community. Most recently, he chaired the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.humanoids2013.com\/\u0022\u003EIEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E in Atlanta and led Tech\u2019s participation in the DARPA Robotics Challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStilman was among 25 researchers nationwide selected for a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/232951\u0022\u003E2013 Young Faculty Award\u003C\/a\u003E by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA). Also, he received several significant research contracts involving his two humanoid robots, Golem Krang and Golem Hubo, including a $900,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research to develop a \u201chybrid reasoning system\u201d for military robots. The new system could lead to robots that improvise, using objects in their environments to creatively complete complex tasks, such as climbing a chair to escape a building. In a 2012 interview about this project, Stilman said his goal was \u201cto create machines that operate like MacGyver, the \u201880s TV character.\u201d This quote marked the birth of Golem Krang\u2019s new moniker: \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/robots-using-tools-new-grant-researchers-aim-create-%E2%80%98macgyver%E2%80%99-robot\u0022\u003EMacGyverBot\u003C\/a\u003E.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is a shocking loss for the College of Computing and the entire Georgia Tech robotics community,\u201d said Zvi Galil, dean of the College of Computing. \u201cMike Stilman was a brilliant and passionate young teacher and researcher with an outstanding career in front of him. On behalf of everyone in our college, I extend our deepest condolences to Mike\u2019s family. His loss will be felt within our community for a long time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESurvivors include his wife Akiko and his parents.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAssistant Professor Mike Stilman, recognized as an emerging leader in humanoid robotics research, died following an apparent accident at his Atlanta home on Tuesday, May 6.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Assistant Professor Mike Stilman, recognized as an emerging leader in humanoid robotics research, died following an apparent accident at his Atlanta home on Tuesday, May 6."}],"uid":"27897","created_gmt":"2014-05-07 14:53:31","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:22","author":"Phillip Taylor","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-05-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-05-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"295601":{"id":"295601","type":"image","title":"Mike Stilman and Golem Krang","body":null,"created":"1449244514","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:55:14","changed":"1475894995","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:55","alt":"Mike Stilman and Golem Krang","file":{"fid":"199390","name":"mike-stilman-golem-krang.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mike-stilman-golem-krang_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mike-stilman-golem-krang_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1596835,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mike-stilman-golem-krang_0.jpg?itok=itq_AeTb"}},"295771":{"id":"295771","type":"image","title":"Mike Stilman","body":null,"created":"1449244514","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:55:14","changed":"1475894995","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:55","alt":"Mike Stilman","file":{"fid":"199396","name":"mike-stilman.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mike-stilman_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mike-stilman_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":284711,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mike-stilman_0.jpg?itok=9l02VoYH"}}},"media_ids":["295601","295771"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.golems.org\/","title":"Memorial Website"}],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"47501","name":"Mike Stilman; MacGyver; Robot; Be More; Connie Chen; Bots"},{"id":"114601","name":"Press Release"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJosie Giles\u003Cbr \/\u003EIRIM Marketing Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003Ejosie@gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-8551\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["josie@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}