Keith LeGrand
2022 -
Assistant Professor
Degrees
Ph.D. Cornell University, Aerospace Engineering, 2022
M.S. Missouri University of Science and Technology, Aerospace Engineering, 2015
B.S. Missouri University of Science and Technology, Aerospace Engineering, 2014
M.S. Missouri University of Science and Technology, Aerospace Engineering, 2015
B.S. Missouri University of Science and Technology, Aerospace Engineering, 2014
Contact
701 W. Stadium Ave.
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2045
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2045
Office:
ARMS 3213
Office Phone:
(765) 496-3592
Email:
klegrand@purdue.edu
Webpage:
http://keithlegrand.com/
Interests
space domain awareness; multi-sensor multi-object tracking; nonlinear estimation; spacecraft navigation; spacecraft autonomy
Awards and Major Appointments
(2025) Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Program Award
(2025) International Society of Information Fusion (ISIF) Young Investigator Award
(2023) Best Paper Award, Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference (AMOS)
(2023) E.F. Bruhn Teaching Award
(2021) First Runner-up Best Student Paper Award, International Conference on Information Fusion (FUSION)
(2020) Best Student Paper Award, International Conference on Information Fusion (FUSION)
(2017) Mission Innovator Award, Sandia National Laboratories
(2015-2019) Senior Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories
(2025) International Society of Information Fusion (ISIF) Young Investigator Award
(2023) Best Paper Award, Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference (AMOS)
(2023) E.F. Bruhn Teaching Award
(2021) First Runner-up Best Student Paper Award, International Conference on Information Fusion (FUSION)
(2020) Best Student Paper Award, International Conference on Information Fusion (FUSION)
(2017) Mission Innovator Award, Sandia National Laboratories
(2015-2019) Senior Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories
Research Areas
Keith LeGrand’s research explores the intersection of probabilistic estimation, autonomy, and space systems, with a focus on enabling intelligent sensing and decision-making in complex orbital environments. His work develops advanced Bayesian filtering, random finite set (RFS) theory, and information-driven sensor management methods to estimate, track, and characterize objects in dynamic, uncertain regimes such as cislunar space. Applications include angles-only orbit determination, multi-sensor data fusion, and autonomous tasking of ground and space-based networks for space domain awareness. By uniting theory with computational implementation, LeGrand’s research aims to advance the autonomy and resilience of future spaceflight systems for future missions in the Earth–Moon system and beyond.
Publications
Please refer to my Google Scholar page for a more complete list.
G.A. Siciliano, K.A. LeGrand, and J. Kulik, “Higher-Order Tensor-Based Deferral of Gaussian Splitting for Orbit Uncertainty Propagation,”
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.01771
J. Kulik and K.A. LeGrand, “Nonlinearity and Uncertainty Informed Moment-Matching Gaussian Mixture Splitting, ” https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.00343
J.L. Iannamorelli and K.A. LeGrand, “Adaptive Gaussian Mixture Filtering for Multi-Sensor Maneuvering Cislunar Space Object Tracking,”Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Vol 72, No. 2, 2025, doi:10.1007/s40295-024-00478-z
K.A. LeGrand and S. Ferrari, “Split Happens! Imprecise and Negative Information in Gaussian Mixture Random Finite Set Filtering,” Journal of Advances in Information Fusion, Vol 17, No. 2, December, 2022, doi:link
K.A. LeGrand, P. Zhu, and S. Ferrari, “Cell Multi-Bernoulli (Cell-MB) Sensor Control for Multi-object Search-While-Tracking (SWT),” IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, doi:10.1109/TPAMI.2022.3223856
H. Wei, K.A. LeGrand, A.A. Paradise, and S. Ferrari, “Real-time Communication Control in Decentralized Autonomous Sensor Networks,” Journal of Aerospace Information Systems, 2022, doi:10.2514/1.I010934
G.A. Siciliano, K.A. LeGrand, and J. Kulik, “Higher-Order Tensor-Based Deferral of Gaussian Splitting for Orbit Uncertainty Propagation,”
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.01771
J. Kulik and K.A. LeGrand, “Nonlinearity and Uncertainty Informed Moment-Matching Gaussian Mixture Splitting, ” https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.00343
J.L. Iannamorelli and K.A. LeGrand, “Adaptive Gaussian Mixture Filtering for Multi-Sensor Maneuvering Cislunar Space Object Tracking,”Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Vol 72, No. 2, 2025, doi:10.1007/s40295-024-00478-z
K.A. LeGrand and S. Ferrari, “Split Happens! Imprecise and Negative Information in Gaussian Mixture Random Finite Set Filtering,” Journal of Advances in Information Fusion, Vol 17, No. 2, December, 2022, doi:link
K.A. LeGrand, P. Zhu, and S. Ferrari, “Cell Multi-Bernoulli (Cell-MB) Sensor Control for Multi-object Search-While-Tracking (SWT),” IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, doi:10.1109/TPAMI.2022.3223856
H. Wei, K.A. LeGrand, A.A. Paradise, and S. Ferrari, “Real-time Communication Control in Decentralized Autonomous Sensor Networks,” Journal of Aerospace Information Systems, 2022, doi:10.2514/1.I010934