Career Synopsis

Dr. A.J. Koivo earned Diploma in Electrical Engineering at Finland Institute of Technology, Helsinki, Finland, M.S. at Indiana University, and Ph.D. at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Dr. Koivo is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. He has held visiting positions in the Finnish Academy of Science and Technology (Helsinki, Finland), Armstrong Laboratory (Wright-Patterson AFB, OH), Wright Laboratory (Tyndall AFB, Tyndall, FL), MEL (AIST) of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan (Tsubuka, Japan), University of Hannover (Hannover, Germany), and Helsinki University of Technology, Finland.

His research interests include optimal estimation and identification, and computer control with specific applications to robotics. His research was concentrated in sensory feedback control, coordinated multiple robot systems and construction robots. He has authored or co-authored over one hundred fifty technical archival and conference papers. He is the author of the book, Fundamentals for Control of Robot Manipulators (1989), by J. Wiley & Sons, Inc.

He was an active member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and the IEEE Neural Network Council. He was a liaison representative of the IEEE Control System Society in the Robotics and Automation Council, 1986-1988, and an elected member of the Administrative Committee (AdCom) of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society 1989-1990, 1991-1993, 1995-1997, and 1999-2001. He has served the Society in various capacities including Fellows Selection Committee. He was a representative of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society in the AdCom of the IEEE Neural Network Council (NNC) 1993-1995. He served as Vice-President of Conferences, Member and Chair of the Fellows Committee for the NNC. He was the Chairman of the Technical Committee on Robotics, 1986-1991, and a member of the AdCom in 1987-1989 and 1992-1993 in IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society.

He has been a program chairperson and member of organizing program committees of several national and international conferences on robotics, automation, artificial neural networks and fuzzy systems. He was the Technical Program Chairperson for the IEEE 1990 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA '90), a General Vice-Chairperson for the ICRA '92. He was the General Chair of the 1997 IEEE International Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation (CIRA '97), Technical Program Co-chair of the ISIC/CIRA/ISAS '98, and the General Co-Chair of CIRA '99. He has been a lecturer and consultant to the International Programs of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and NATO.

He has been a guest co-editor of Special Issues for several IEEE Transactions. He was an Associate (Technical) Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 1988-1991, and an Editor of the same Transactions, 1991-1996.

He has received the D. Ewing Award for Excellence in Teaching in the School of Electrical Engineering at Purdue University. He was Rotary Fellow, and is a member of Eta Kappa Nu, Sigma Xi, and Life Fellow of the IEEE. He was a Senior Research Price Awardee of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany), 1993-1994. He is listed in American Men and Women in Science, Who's Who in Technology Today, American Men in Science, and International Who's Who in Education.