Dr. Mark Maimone is a Navigation and Machine Vision researcher at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology. In 1989 he completed the International Space Universitys summer program, in which he participated in the design of a lunar polar orbiter. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Computer Science Department of Carnegie Mellon University in 1996, with a dissertation that addressed problems that have plagued stereo vision systems for decades. He was then a Post-doctoral Research Associate at Carnegie Mellons Robotics Institute, supervising the 1996 Lunar Rover field trials and serving as Navigation and Software Lead for the 1997 Atacama Desert Trek.
At JPL since 1997, Mark has worked on the Long Range Science Rover, Planetary Dexterous Manipulator, and Pioneer Vision System for Chornobyl Inspection projects, delivering 3D vision systems for autonomous robotic operations and mapping. Mark is currently a member of the Mars Exploration Rover team. He developed the autonomous vision and navigation software subsystems on the MER vehicles, and is part of the Spacecraft Rover Engineering Team that analyzes MER data daily. His research interests include robotic navigational autonomy, stereo vision, and camera calibration.

2007 NASA Space Act Major Award for Mars Exploration Rovers Flight Software

2007 NASA Space Act Standard Award for Autonomous Instrument Placement for the Mars Exploration Rover

2006 Mars Exploration Directorate Team Bonus Award for successful flight code development and validation of autonomy algorithms for the MER mission

2006 ASPRS John I Davidson Award for Practical Papers for Initial Results of Rover Localization and Topographic Mapping for the 2003 MER Mission

2006 NASA Space Act award, Visual Odometry Software for 6 DOF Attitude Estimation on Mobile Robots Using Stereo Cameras

2005 JPL Level A Award, for outstanding technical accomplishment in the design, development, and incorporation of code which compensates for slip while driving on sloped terrain on Mars into the Mars Exploration Rover flight software.

2004 NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for Mars Exploration Rover Autonomous Surface Navigation System

1999 JPL Nova Award for Planetary Dexterous Manipulation work

1997 CMU Allen Newell Award for Research Excellence for Atacama Desert Trek field test