Rate My Professor Ou Ma

Professor Ou Ma serves as the Alan B. Shepard Chair Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Cincinnati, where he directs the Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory. He earned a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, followed by an M.Eng. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. His distinguished career spans industry and academia, beginning as Senior Project Engineer and R&D Lead at MDA Space Systems (MD Robotics) in Brampton, Ontario, from 1991 to 2002. He then joined New Mexico State University, advancing from Associate Professor (2002-2008) to Professor (2008-2012) and John Nakayama and Tome Nakayama Professor in Research Excellence (2012-2017). Additional roles include Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University (2015-2016), Senior Visiting Scientist at the German Aerospace Center (2010), and Visiting Professor at the Canadian Space Agency (2004). Since 2017, he has held his current chair position at the University of Cincinnati.

Ma's research specializes in space robotics and autonomy, machine learning and intelligent systems, multibody dynamics and control, impact-contact dynamics, and human-robot interaction and collaboration. He has received numerous accolades, including the Distinguished Researcher Award and CEAS Research Award from the University of Cincinnati in 2024 and 2025, respectively; Core Values Partnership Award (2025); Faculty-to-Faculty Research Mentorship Award (2019); Dean’s Recognition Award and “Millionaire” Research Achievement Award from New Mexico State University (2012 and 2010); DAAD Fellowship (2010); and Technical Innovation Awards from MDA Space Missions (2000, 1996). His influential publications include "Cooperative Behavior of a Heterogeneous Robot Team for Planetary Exploration Using Deep Reinforcement Learning" (Acta Astronautica, 2024, with A. Barth); "Genetic Fuzzy Methodology for Decentralized Cooperative UAVs to Transport a Shared Payload" (Drones, 2023, with A. Sathyan and K. Cohen); "Robotic Manipulation and Capture in Space: A Survey" (Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 2021, with E. Papadopoulos et al.); and "Genetic Fuzzy Based Scalable System of Distributed Robots for a Collaborative Task" (Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 2020, with A. Sathyan and K. Cohen). With over 8,000 citations, his work significantly impacts space robotics, evidenced by major grants such as an $11.5 million U.S. Space Force award for satellite repair technology.