Marco Pavone

Dr. Marco Pavone is an Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University, where he directs the Autonomous Systems Laboratory. He also leads autonomous vehicle research at NVIDIA. Prior to joining Stanford, he was a Research Technologist in the Robotics Section at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2010.

His research centers on Physical AI—the development of AI systems grounded in physics, perception, and control that can operate robustly in the real world. His work spans applications including self-driving cars, autonomous aerospace vehicles, and general-purpose robotic systems.

He has received numerous honors, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Barack Obama.