Gregory Stein

Greg Stein wants to bring about a future in which robots act more intelligently in a dynamic and uncertain world and engender trust in the humans with whom they share it. Even as robots have started to populate our world, they are limited in the types of things they can do and struggle to accomplish even simple tasks in places that they've never been before. Stein's research is devoted to changing how robots think about uncertainty so that they can make predictions about their surroundings from experience and understand the role their actions play in shaping their environment. His work so far—nominated for best paper and awarded best oral presentation at the 2018 Conference on Robot Learning—has predominantly focused on effective navigation in previously unseen buildings, and he is working on expanding his research to improve home-care robotics and self-driving vehicles. His ongoing work is devoted to imbuing autonomous agents with the ability to better explain their decision-making when faced with uncertainty, a critical capability if robots are to realize their full potential and safely operate alongside people.

Stein believes that effective communication and mentorship are critical components of a successful research lab. As a graduate student, he was an active member of the community, and his work as a volunteer communication advisor and as a wellness coach helped him to become an effective communicator and to cope with the challenges of graduate school, experiences he works to pass along to his students.

Degrees 

• PhD, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Master of Science, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Bachelor of Science, Engineering Physics, Cornell University