Tim Bretl, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering has joined the Beckman Institutes Artificial Intelligence group.

Bretl received his Ph.D. in both Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford in 2005, joining the University of Illinois faculty in 2006 with a focus on motion planning for large free-climbing robots.

Bretl's research focuses on developing tools for motion analysis, planning, and control that have applications for mechanical and biological systems such as legged robots for planetary exploration, autonomous sailplanes for atmospheric and environmental science, neuro-prosthetic devices with a control interface designed using biological principles, and robotic manipulators for intelligent machining of deformable objects.