Pierre Lermusiaux

Pierre Lermusiaux is the Nam P. Suh Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Professor of Ocean Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), within the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the School of Engineering. He leads the Multidisciplinary Simulation, Estimation, and Assimilation Systems (MSEAS) group, which develops advanced methods for ocean modeling, data assimilation, uncertainty quantification, Bayesian inference, and machine learning. His research applies these to quantify regional ocean dynamics across multiple scales, including physical-acoustical-biological interactions, autonomous vehicle path planning, adaptive sampling, multiscale coastal and global ocean prediction, and environmental applications such as carbon sequestration, deep-sea mining effects, and plastic pollution modeling.

Lermusiaux earned a B./M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Liège in 1992, an M.Sc. in Applied Physics from Harvard University in 1993, and a Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University in 1997. His professional career began with a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Harvard's Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences from 1997 to 1999, followed by a Research Associate position there from 2000 to 2006. He joined MIT in 2007 as Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, becoming tenured in 2012. Notable awards include the Fulbright Foundation Fellowship (1992-1996), Robert L. Wallace Prize Fellowship from Harvard University (1993), Annual T. Francis Ogilvie Young Investigator Lecture at MIT Ocean Engineering (1998), MIT Doherty Chair in Ocean Utilization (2009-2011), and Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Distinguished Teaching by the MIT School of Engineering (2010). Key publications encompass 'Dynamically Orthogonal Field Equations for Continuous Stochastic Dynamical Systems' (Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, 2009), 'Path Planning of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Adaptive Sampling Using Mixed Integer Linear Programming' (IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 2009), 'Data Assimilation via Error Subspace Statistical Estimation. Part I: Theory and Schemes' (Monthly Weather Review, 1999), 'Adaptive Modeling, Adaptive Data Assimilation and Adaptive Sampling' (Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, 2007), and 'The Atlantic Ionian Stream' (Journal of Marine Systems, 1999).

Professional Email: pierrel@mit.edu