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Photo of Akella, Maruthi R.

makella@mail.utexas.edu
512-471-9493
Office Location: ASE 3.224

Maruthi R. Akella

Professor

Cockrell Family Chair in Engineering # 19

Department Research Areas:
Controls, Autonomy and Robotics
Orbital Mechanics

Education:
Ph.D., Texas A&M University

Research Interests:

  • Nonlinear Adaptive Control
  • Dynamical Systems Theory
  • Estimation and System Identification

Dr. Akella specializes in the control of complex dynamical systems that are subject to large scale nonlinearities and uncertainties. He has served on the Cockrell School of Engineering faculty since 1999. Dr. Akella directs the Controls Group for Distributed and Uncertain Systems (C-DUS Group) within the ASE/EM Department at UT Austin. He is affiliated with the Center for Space Research and has also engaged in active collaborations with the Wireless Networking and Communications Group and the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. 

Dr. Akella’s current research encompasses control theoretic investigations and experimental validation of a wide variety of complex engineered dynamical systems that include autonomous space vehicles and robotics; cislunar astrodynamics; flow-control systems for high-speed and hypersonic vehicles; miniature robots navigating inside GPS-denied environments; uncertainty quantification; and cooperative control, learning, and collaborative sensing problems in swarm robots. His research contributions have found several highly successful applications in astrodynamics and in the control of space systems and vision-guided robotics. His research group contributed for 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.

Dr. Akella has published more than 260 research papers in peer-reviewed archival journals and conference proceedings. For his far-reaching theoretical contributions and practical advances in aircraft/spacecraft guidance, navigation and control, particularly nonlinear attitude estimation and control, he was recognized with several prestigious awards 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. During 2021-2022, Dr. Akella served as the Technology lead facilitator for the Urban Air Mobility Advisory Committee established by the Texas State Legislature tasked to assess current state law and provide necessary recommendations for facilitating air mobility operations and infrastructure within the state. 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.”

Dr. Akella 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.

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