John C. Malone Professor of Computer Science Russell Taylor has stepped down as the director of the Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics, with Gregory D. Hager serving as interim director as of July 1.
Leading the LCSR for more than a decade, Taylor has seen the laboratory become one of the most technologically advanced robotics research centers worldwide and an international leader in medical robotics, autonomous systems, and bio-inspiration.
Within Johns Hopkins, the LCSR is a hub for innovative and interdisciplinary robotics engineering, research, and development, bringing together core groups of scholars from the Whiting School of Engineering, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and the Kennedy Krieger Institute to focus on the common purpose of creating knowledge and fostering discovery.
Taylor’s award-winning research has focused on artificial intelligence, robotics, human-machine cooperative systems, medical imaging and modeling, and computer-integrated interventional systems. In addition to his more than 50 years of professional experience in the fields of computer science, robotics, and computer-integrated interventional medicine, he also holds secondary appointments in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Medicine’s Departments of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Radiology and Radiological Science, and Surgery. He is a member of the Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare, the Institute for Assured Autonomy, the Data Science and AI Institute, and the National Academy of Engineering.
Hager is the Mandell Bellmore Professor of Computer Science and the founding director of the Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare. Last year, he was selected by the NSF to head its Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering, which advances research, innovation, and education in the computer science, information science, and computer engineering fields in the U.S.
Hager, who also holds appointments in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Whiting and the Department of Surgery in the School of Medicine, is known for his research on collaborative and vision-based robotics, time-series analysis of image data, and medical applications of image analysis and robotics.
As a leader in the development of algorithms for real-time computer vision and their uses for robotics, his work has had real-world applications in manufacturing and warehouse automation as well as driving research advances in automated surgical training, medical imaging and diagnostics, and computer-enhanced interventional medicine. He is also a member of the Data Science and AI Institute.
Hager will oversee the implementation of the LCSR’s newly developed strategic plan and organize a selection process for the next director.
The Whiting School thanks Taylor for his years of service and guidance and welcomes Hager into this new leadership role.