Ken Goldberg

Biography

Ken Goldberg, PhD, serves as a Research Mentor at ICSI. He is the William S. Floyd Distinguished Chair in Engineering at UC Berkeley and holds secondary appointments in UC Berkeley’s departments of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and Art Practice, as well as in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco. He is President of the Robot Learning Foundation and Chair of the Steering Committee for the Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) lab, which includes 65 faculty.  He is Director of the UC Berkeley AUTOLab and is co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Ambi Robotics. 

Dr. Goldberg is a pioneer in technology and artistic visual expression, bridging the “two cultures” of art and science. With unique skills in communication and creative problem solving, invention, and thinking on the edge, he has presented over 600 keynote and invited lectures at events such as the World Economic Forum, Aspen Ideas Festival, Zeitgeist, TEDx, and SXSW. An award-winning roboticist, filmmaker, and artist, he’s skeptical about claims that humans are on the verge of being replaced by superintelligent machines, yet optimistic about the potential of technology to improve the human condition. 

Dr. Goldberg co-founded and served as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE). He is also co-founder of the Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) Lab, the Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM), the African Robotics Network (AFRON), the Center for Automation and Learning for Medical Robotics (CAL-MR), the CITRIS Data and Democracy Initiative (DDI), Hybrid Wisdom Labs, Moxie Institute, and Ambidextrous Robotics. Dr. Goldberg developed the first provably complete algorithm for part feeding and the first robot on the Internet. His artwork has been featured in 70 art exhibits including the 2000 Whitney Biennial. Dr. Goldberg earned his MS and PhD degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and dual Bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Publications

Selected Honors & Awards

• George Saridis Leadership Award of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, 2016
• IEEE Fellow, 2005
• Joseph Engelberger Robotics Award, 2000
• Presidential Faculty Fellowship, 1995

Selected Leadership Activities

• Editorial Board, Science Robotics

ICSI Activity