Faculty Directory

Paley, Derek A.

Paley, Derek A.

Willis H. Young Jr. Professor of Aerospace Engineering Education
Director, Maryland Robotics Center
Aerospace Engineering
The Institute for Systems Research
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Maryland Robotics Center
Brain and Behavior Institute
3150 Glenn L. Martin Hall

Derek A. Paley is Director of the Maryland Robotics Center and Willis H. Young Jr. Professor of Aerospace Engineering Education in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and the Institute for Systems Research at the University of Maryland. He is the founding director of the UMD Collective Dynamics and Control Laboratory and the UMD Autonomous Micro Air Vehicle Team. Paley is an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a member of the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center, the Maryland Robotics Center, the Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, the Burgers Program for Fluid Dynamics, the Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Program, the Brain and Behavior Initiative, and the Maryland Transportation Institute. Paley received the B.S. degree in Applied Physics from Yale University in 1997 and the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 2007. He is the recipient of the Yale University Henry Prentiss Becton Prize for Excellence in Engineering and Applied Science in 1997, the Princeton University Harold W. Dodds Honorific Fellowship in 2006, the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2010, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2012, the University of Maryland E. Robert Kent Teaching Award for Junior Faculty in 2014, and the AIAA National Capital Section Engineer of the Year in 2015. Paley was a Fellow in the 2013–2014 Office of Naval Research Sabbatical Fellowship Program, a Fellow in the 2019–2020 UMD ADVANCE Leadership Fellows Program, and has been selected as a 2020-2021 UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher. Paley has authored more than 140 peer-reviewed publications including one textbook: Engineering Dynamics (Princeton University Press, 2011). He teaches introductory dynamics, advanced dynamics, aircraft flight dynamics and control, and nonlinear control. Paley’s research interests are in the area of dynamics and control, including cooperative control of autonomous vehicles, adaptive sampling with mobile networks, spatial modeling of biological groups, and bioinspired robotics. His research is based on support by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research. Paley is Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He serves as Associate Editor of AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics and IEEE Control Systems Magazine.

  • Dynamics, estimation, and control: Cooperative control of autonomous vehicles
  • Mobile sensor networks: Adaptive sampling of spatiotemporal processes
  • Biocomplexity and bioinspiration: Quantitative modeling of animal groups and behavior

Workshop honors alum Naomi Leonard

Leonard is the Edwin S. Wilsey Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University.

UMD-led Team Selected for DARPA Triage Challenge

Researchers will work to develop novel methods to detect injuries in mass casualty incidents.

UMD Student Team Lauded for Award-Winning Drone

U.S. Representative Glenn F. Ivey presented a proclamation honoring the AMAV team's NIST competition victory.

An Internship with Impact

Student projects run the gamut from counterUAS to medical support in high-casualty scenarios.

UMD Takes Second at VFS Design-Build-Vertical-Flight Competition

Team’s Horizon drone leveraged unique design to balance hover and cruise performance with autonomous flight capabilities.

MRC Faculty, Researchers, and Students Present 24 Papers at ICRA 2023

MRC researchers have a strong showing at ICRA 2023.

Congratulations May 2023 ISR graduates!

Here's a list of May graduates with ISR ties---at all degree levels.

“Gambit” Pays Off in UMD Team’s Search-and-Rescue Competition Win

UMD Team wins NIST First Responder UAS Indoor Challenge with custom-built, low-cost drone, and takes home more than $150K in prize money.

Paley selected for special recognition at Division of Research event

Maryland Research Excellence Celebration honored faculty scholars and researchers for demonstrably elevating the university’s research visibility and reputation.

Seven UMD Grand Challenges projects include ISR and MRC faculty

The $30 million program will accelerate innovative solutions to some of the world's most complex problems.

Maryland Engineers Awarded Grants to Address Humanity's Grand Challenges

Twelve projects led by or involving Maryland Engineering faculty have been awarded funding through the Grand Challenges Grants Program, the largest and most comprehensive program of its kind ever introduced at the University of Maryland.

ArtIAMAS receives third-year funding of up to $15.1M

The ArtIAMAS cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory conducts research focused on safe, effective, and resilient capabilities and technologies that work intelligently and cooperatively with each other and humans.

Manocha, Bedi receive Amazon Research Award for 'federated learning'

Their project is titled, "Ensuring Fairness via Federated Learning Beyond Consensus."

NAWCAD-UMD Seed Grant Review and Discussion strengthens collaboration commitment

The event emphasized research, advanced education, and outreach collaborations for the region, the state of Maryland and the nation.

New Microsoft/Maryland Robotics Center partnership to enhance diversity and innovation

Microsoft Robotics and Diversity Initiative will support Ph.D. fellowships, seminars, student diversity groups and more.

UMD Team Wins Inaugural NIST UAS 3.1: FastFind Challenge

Competition challenged students to develop innovative UAV solutions for first responders.

UMD Researchers Eye Advances in Autonomy

A multi-institutional program leverages UAS Test Site capabilities in search of new breakthroughs.

Packy, Suriyarachchi, Thompson, Weerakoon, and Young are 2022-2023 MRC GRA Recipients

The MRC Graduate Assistantship Program is open to mid-career UMD Ph.D. students with Maryland Robotics Center advisors.

Maryland Engineering Graduate Programs: Top 10 Public, Four Years in a Row

Maryland Engineering earns a top spot in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings among over 200 colleges.

Improving electric scooter-pedestrian safety with better modeling

Researchers with UMD ties develop a modiifed social force model to predict how pedestrians interact with micro-mobility vehicles.

MRC and MAGE Earn ARM Institute Endorsement

Organizations that earn the ARM Institute’s Endorsement pass a rigorous assessment process by proving that they provide students the skills needed for a career in manufacturing working with robotics.

ArtIAMAS cooperative agreement receives $10.3M in second-year funding

The $10.3M second-year funding is one of the largest single-year sponsored research awards for the Clark School of Engineering.

Congratulations to our December 2021 ISR graduates!

ISR advisors graduated 22 Ph.D., 2 M.S., and 4 M.S.S.E. new alumni in December!

Newly-Opened SMART Building to Spur Autonomy Research

Maryland engineering will benefit from state-of-the-art labs and facilities at USMSM.

USMSM Debuts SMART Innovation Center

New, $86 million facility to expand educational opportunities, autonomous vehicles research.

Three Ph.D. students awarded Amazon Lab126 Fellowships

Sydrak Abdi, Sara Honarvar and Pedro Sandoval-Segura are the Fellowship recipients.

NSF grant will further planning for collaborative autonomy testing infrastructure

This project will plan a more ideal research infrastructure for roboticists and experts in modeling, simulation, testing, evaluation and software engineering.

Pamela Abshire is named UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

She is one of six Clark School faculty honored at the university's annual convocation.

An Opportunity to Shape the Field…While Still a Student

Students selected for the UMD UAS Test Site’s summer internship program brainstorm. design and test real-world applications.

Derek Paley's e-scooter work featured in Washington Post

He envisions scooters that could bring themselves to you when you need them—autonomously.

Rachel Suitor aboard NGS/NOAA expedition in Gulf of Mexico

The Aerospace Engineering Ph.D. student is working with robotic "Driftcams" to document aquatic life at different depths of the oceanic rim ecosystem.

UMD Takes Second in VFS Design-Build-Vertical-Flight Competition

Competition challenges students to build remote-control electric-powered vertical take-off and landing vehicles.

Congratulations, May 2021 ISR graduates!

Institute for Systems Research faculty advised PhD, MS, BS and 12 MSSE students who graduated in May 2021.

UMD, UMBC, ARL Announce Cooperative Agreement to Accelerate AI, Autonomy in Complex Environments

The agreement leverages Maryland's national leadership in engineering, robotics, computer science, operations research, modeling and simulation, and cybersecurity.

ISR faculty leading, playing key roles in ARL cooperative agreement

The $68M 'ARTIAMAS' research agreement features faculty from UMD and UMBC.

New undergraduate minor in robotics and autonomous systems

The Maryland Robotics Center will administer the program, which begins in Fall 2021.

Paley receives ONR funding for cross-domain cooperative control

The project will enable autonomous underwater 3D mapping using underwater laser imaging.

Maryland Robotics Center Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Research and education hub continues to expand programs, outreach

Paley, Wereley edit new Springer book on soft robotics

Bioinspired Sensing, Actuation, and Control in Underwater Soft Robotic Systems is a comprehensive snapshot of the latest advances.

$100,000 investment from Amazon to power Clark School initiatives in diversity, robotics research and education

Beneficiaries include two Ph.D. fellowships in robotics, the Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering, a robotics capstone course, the Black Engineers Society and the Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers.

Engineering Robotic Starfish

Echinoderm-inspired robots could perform many difficult, dangerous tasks.

MRC Researchers to Present 16 Papers at ICRA 2020

International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2020 will be held online from May 31st to August 31st. MRC researchers will be presenting 16 papers at this conference.  

UMD names Derek Paley as a 2020–2021 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

The program recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding scholarly achievement along with equally outstanding accomplishments as teachers.

Two Clark School teams take top spots in VFS micro air vehicle competition

The electric-powered, vertical take-off and landing, micro air vehicle competition encourages student interest in autonomous/unmanned aircraft technology and small air vehicle design and fabrication.

Nonlinear control design for a school of robotic fish

New paper presents control laws that stabilize planar formations of mobile agents.

How to steer a fish-inspired robot

Paley and students develop a state-feedback control law to allow the autonomous robot to demonstrate 'pure pursuit.'

A cooperative control algorithm for robotic search and rescue

The algorithm can guide a team of autonomous quadrotors to simultaneously build an occupancy graph of an uncertain environment and detect a single target moving on this graph.

Aerodynamic interaction model improves quadrotor flight stability in gusty winds

Work by Paley, Craig and Yeo equips quadrotors with custom flow probes that measure wind velocity.

UMD's Paley Wins Grant for Micromobility Study

Quantitative research will help better assess risks and benefits, while providing a foundation for planning.

MTI Announces Seed Grant Awardees

Five new proposals have been selected for seed grants under a program designed to support interdisciplinary research.

Behtash Babadi wins Clark School teaching award for junior faculty

The Clark School annually presents the E. Robert Kent Teaching Award for Junior Faculty at its winter commencement.

Student autonomous drone racing team takes 2nd place at IROS

'TurboTerps' flew their drone autonomously through a set of gates, completing 14 runs in 4:42.

Derek Paley named Maryland Robotics Center director

Paley's term will begin July 1, 2019.

Clark School student teams sweep MAV competition

FIRE freshmen, AE undergrads and MEng Robotics students take first place in both categories at VFS Micro Air Vehicle Student Challenge.

Maryland Robotics Center Demonstrates Robots at Maryland Day 2019

Maryland Robotics Center Demos on Maryland Day 2019

Ghodssi gives distinguished lecture on devices for gastrointestinal health at EPFL in Switzerland

Trip also included visits to the Wyss Center and Imperial College London.

University names Zhang, Goswami outstanding graduate assistants

The Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award recognizes important contributions to the university.

Maryland Robotics Center launches a new postdoctoral fellowship program

The program will foster multidisciplinary collaborations among Maryland Robotics Center faculty.

Five recipients of ISR Graduate Student Travel Award announced

Eight graduate students have received funding through the award since 2017.

Bioinspired robotics REU students present final projects

The REU was led by Hugh Bruck and Sarah Bergbreiter, along with Clark School faculty and graduate student mentors.

Inspired by Nature: Autonomous Underwater Robotics

Clark School Prof. Derek Paley wants autonomous underwater vehicles to have the same capabilities as fish.

Derek Paley interviewed for WYPR's 'On the Record'

Paley talks about how understanding the fluid movements of fish can help improve underwater vehicles.

ISR faculty leading bio-inspired robotics and transportation electrification REUs

NSF's REU program provides undergraduate students with hands-on exposure to scientific research.

Paley, Abshire, Martins promoted to full Professor by UMD President Wallace Loh

The faculty members' new rank will become effective on July 1.

Paley is Principal Investigator for $2M 'SEA-STAR' grant

Researchers will create soft underwater robot appendages that mimic functionality found in sea stars; Werley is a co-PI.

Khaligh wins Clark School junior faculty teaching award

Khaligh will receive the E. Robert Kent Teaching Award for Junior Faculty at winter commencement.

Synchronized swimming: How startled fish shoals effectively evade danger

Understanding response dynamics of startled fish reveals how orientation within the group effects escape chances, may offer insights into emergency response planning.

Paley presents at NAE 2016 Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

Three Clark School faculty attend NAE 2016 Frontiers of Engineering Symposium.

Four ISR students named to Clark School Future Faculty Fellow program

The program prepares Ph.D. students for academic careers in top-50 engineering schools.

Derek Paley to speak at 2016 US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

NAE-sponsored event brings together emerging engineering leaders.

Alumnus Xiaobo Tan promoted to full professor at Michigan State

Tan earned a 2002 Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland.

New ONR grant for bio-inspired underwater sensing and control

Derek Paley is PI; alum Xiaobo Tan is one of the co-PIs.

Derek Paley is AIAA National Capital Section's Engineer of the Year

Award given for Paley's work in collective behavior in robotic and natural systems.

Maryland Robotics Center presents demonstrations at Maryland Day

Visitors meet bio-inspired, miniature, networked, underwater robots, and more.

Six ISR Ph.D. students selected as Future Faculty Fellows

Program prepares students for academic careers in top-50 engineering schools.

Paley Awarded 2014 E. Robert Kent Teaching Award for Junior Faculty

Paley to receive 2014 E. Robert Kent Teaching Award during Clark School Winter Commencement.

UMD President Loh hosts robotics demonstrations at University House

Maryland Robotics Center shows a variety of robotic platforms.

Alum Xiaobo Tan developing robotic fish to 'stalk' real fish in the Great Lakes

The MSU professor's fish will track the movements of lake trout, walleye and lake sturgeon.

Students present final projects for 2014 NSF Microrobotics REU

Research ranged from robotic skin to leg designs, inertial tail actuators, and more.

Bergbreiter and Paley Honored at White House Ceremony

UMD researchers were honored yesterday at the White House as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

Robotic fish research profiled in Baltimore Sun

Derek Paley, Sean Humbert and alumnus Xiaobo Tan are collaborators on the project.

Aerospace Faculty Recognized at 15th Annual Research Leaders Luncheon

15 Department of Aerospace Engineering's faculty honored for successful research funding efforts.

Intelligent Automation Inc. continues sponsorship of colloquia series

First colloquium on Feb. 5 features Derek Paley.

Paley Awarded Willis H. Young Jr. Faculty Fellowship

Professor receives three-year fellowship and is named Willis H. Young Jr.  Professor of Aerospace Engineering Education.

Derek Paley wins PECASE Award

ISR/AE faculty member has research interests in dynamics and control.

Sarah Bergbreiter wins PECASE Award

ISR/ME faculty member specializes in microrobotics.

Engineering Dynamics textbook by Paley, Kasdin in use at top schools

The textbook introduces undergraduate students to engineering dynamics with an accessible, comprehensive and innovative approach.

UAE students, Northrop Grumman engineers tour robotics laboratories

Visitors were in town for the annual AUVSI conference.

REU in Miniature Robotics holds final project symposium

Nine projects range from wings for MAVs to vision sensors for small robots to small grasping hands.

Derek Paley is PI for new AFOSR grant

Paley will work on "Optimized Routing of Intelligent, Mobile Sensors for Dynamic, Data-Driven Sampling."

Six ISR students named to Future Faculty Fellows program

Clark School program prepares students for academic careers in Top-50 engineering schools.

Miniature Robotics REU students give final presentations

Ten undergrads from around the country give talks on their summer projects.

Derek Paley leads 'Robots and Roaches' workshop

Event for high school students introduces concepts of neurophysiology and robotics.

Five additions to faculty

ISR welcomes four new joint appointments and one new affiliate faculty member.

ISR welcomes 10 REU microbotics students for the summer

Students will develop interdisciplinary research projects in 10-week program.

Maryland Robotics Center featured on live TV broadcast

Robots from five research groups help promote Maryland Day activities.

Derek Paley featured in new NSF research video

Video explains how unmanned aircraft could help determine hurricane strength.

Synchronized Swimming for Submarines

Paley studies schooling fish to improve motion coordination in unmanned vehicle teams.

Six Clark School faculty become affiliates of ISR

ISR welcomes Desai, Humbert, Jacob, Paley, Qu and Smela.

Derek Paley wins NSF CAREER Award

Paley will study information transmission in biological groups.