Rate My Professor Corina Barbalata

Corina Barbalata is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, holding the R.O. Martin Lumber Company Professorship. She earned a BS degree from Transilvania University of Brasov in Romania in 2011, a double MS degree in Computer Vision and Robotics from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, UK, and the University of Burgundy in France through the VIBOT program in 2013, and a PhD from the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK, in 2017. Prior to her appointment at LSU in 2019, she served as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of Michigan from 2017 to 2019. At LSU, she co-directs the iCORE Laboratory, leading the Robotics Kinematics and Dynamics group, and is a fellow in the Coastal Studies Institute. She also serves as co-director of the High School Summer Research Program in the College of Engineering.

Dr. Barbalata's research focuses on physics- and data-driven modeling of vehicle-manipulator systems, model-based control structures for autonomous robotic systems, and scene understanding and interpretation for robotic navigation, with primary applications in marine robotics and industrial automation. Her expertise includes marine robotics, autonomous systems, physics- and data-driven dynamic modeling, model-based control systems, and underwater perception algorithms. Key projects involve dynamic modeling and control of marine systems for subsea operations, motion planning for shipwreck surveys, underwater vision-based navigation, collaborative mobile manufacturing, and robotic 3D printing with thermoset materials. She has secured funding as PI or co-PI from the National Science Foundation, including the CAREER award for autonomous underwater vehicle-manipulator robots adaptable to unforeseen conditions using stochastic models and event-based cameras on the robot Bruce; the Office of Naval Research; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Louisiana Board of Regents; and others. Notable publications include 'Reachable sets for safe, real-time manipulator trajectory design' (2020), 'Laryngeal tumor detection and classification in endoscopic video' (2014), 'Coupled and decoupled force/motion controllers for an underwater vehicle-manipulator system' (2018), 'Position/force operational space control for underwater manipulation' (2018), 'A robotic 3D printer for UV-curable thermosets: dimensionality prediction using a data-driven approach' (2023), and 'A probabilistic framework for hydrodynamic parameter estimation for underwater manipulators' (2023). Her contributions advance reactive capabilities for robots in complex dynamic environments with environmental and social merits.