Speaker Biography

Jaakko Karras

Ingenuity Chief Engineer

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

As Chief Engineer for Ingenuity, the Mars helicopter, Jaakko Karras leads a team that is testing powered, controlled flight on another world for the first time. Jaakko received an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, where he worked on tactile sensing for origami-inspired legged robots under the guidance of Prof. Ron Fearing. Prior to Berkeley, he attended Harvey Mudd College, graduating with a B.S. in Engineering (with emphases in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Jaakko has developed electronics and software for robotic systems on both flight and research projects. He has also led development of the JPL PUFFER pop-up rover technology. Jaakko is currently working on the Mars Helicopter and Autonomous PUFFER projects.