Dr. Andrew E. Johnson – NESC Academy Biography

Dr. Andrew E. Johnson graduated with Highest Distinction from the University of Kansas in 1991 with a BS in Engineering Physics and a BS in Mathematics.  In 1997, he received his Ph.D. from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University where he developed the spin-image surface signature for three dimensional object recognition and surface matching.  Currently, he is a Principal Member of Technical Staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he is developing image-based techniques for autonomous navigation and mapping during descent to planets moons, comets and asteroids.  At JPL, Dr. Johnson has worked on technology development tasks as well as flight projects.  For the 2004 Mars Exploration Rover Project, Dr. Johnson was the lead algorithm developer for the Descent Image Motion Estimation Subsystem (DIMES), the first autonomous machine vision system used during planetary landing.  On the 2012 Mars Science Laboratory Project he designed and coded the Visual Odometry software, which is used when the Curiosity rover drives autonomously on the surface of Mars.  Currently he is the manager for the Lander Vision System technology task, which is developing a smart sensor system for terrain relative navigation and hazard detection for Mars landers.  He is also the Manager of the Solar System Exploration Guidance Navigation and Control Technologies program and the Guidance Navigation and Control Product Delivery Manager for the Mars 2020 mission.  In 2011, Dr. Johnson was awarded a NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal for “significant contributions in evolving Terrain Relative Navigation and Hazard Detection and Avoidance technologies for NASA missions.”