March 10, 2025
Professor Maruthi Akella in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin has been named a VAIBHAV (Vaishvik Bharatiya Vaigyanik) fellow by the Indian Government Ministry of Science and Technology.
The flagship program, administered annually through India’s Department of Science and Technology, awards fellowships across 18 priority areas ranging from AI/ML, aerospace technologies, quantum sciences, nano materials, healthcare and semiconductor research.
An apex committee appointed by the Indian government reviews fellowship nominations each year for scientific merit, expected contributions and their impacts before making selection recommendations. In 2025, 17 fellowships were awarded among more than 210 applications, with Akella being the first and only honoree to receive a fellowship in the aerospace technologies field. The Indian Institute of Science will serve as his host institution.
As a VAIBHAV fellow, Akella will serve a three-year term, during which time he will have the opportunity to travel to India annually to build a collaborative network of researchers working on programs aligned with India’s aerospace research priorities, and exchange practices between the India and the U.S., as well as strive to address opportunities for joint research.
Akella specializes in the control of complex dynamical systems that are subject to large scale nonlinearities and uncertainties and directs the Controls Group for Distributed and Uncertain Systems (C-DUS Group) at UT Austin. His current research focuses on control theoretic investigations and experimental validation of a wide variety of complex engineered dynamical systems that include autonomous space vehicles and robotics; cislunar astrodynamics; and cooperative control, learning, and collaborative sensing problems. His research group supported the onboard guidance algorithm for the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission – the first U.S. Moon landing in more than 50 years since the Apollo era.
In October 2024, the International Astronomical Union designated asteroid number 5376 – a nearly 5-mile diameter-sized minor planet from the main asteroid belt – as “Maruthiakella” honoring Dr. Akella’s contributions to “many successful applications in astrodynamics.”
Akella has received accolades for his impactful technical contributions including the AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight Award, the AAS Dirk Brouwer Award, the IEEE-CSS Award for Technical Excellence in Aerospace Control and the IEEE Judith A. Resnik Space Award.
He is a fellow of the AIAA, IEEE and AAS and holds the Academician rank with the International Academy of Astronautics. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences and on the editorial board for the AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics. Read his full bio here.
