Kenechukwu Mbanisi

he / him

Assistant Professor of Robotics Engineering

Active

Kenechukwu Mbanisi portrait

Office

Milas Hall 355

education

  • Ph.D., Robotics Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2022.
  • M.S., Robotics Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2018.
  • B.Eng., Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Covenant University, Nigeria, 2013

select courses taught

  • Principles of Integrated Engineering (PIE)

awards

  • 2021 Dr. Glenn Yee Graduate Student Tuition Award.

research

  • Human-centered design of Human-Robot systems.
  • Shared autonomy of intelligent vehicles.
  • Engineering education models and systems for the advancement of engineering and innovation in Africa.

Kenechukwu (fondly called ‘Kene’) is very passionate about two things: (1) working with students to tinker and design human-compatible robotics and A.I. systems that create value for people and (2) inspiring and enabling the next generation of engineers and roboticists from under-represented backgrounds in robotics and A.I.

He was born in Lagos, Nigeria, where he developed a passion for engineering and robotics. He received his Ph.D. in Robotics Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in 2022 where his research focused on developing human-centric AI systems that enhance human capabilities in a range of shared tasks (such as co-driving). Kene has an M.S. in Robotics Engineering from WPI and a B.Eng. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Covenant University in Ota, Nigeria.

In addition to his scholarship, Kene is deeply committed to equity and access in STEM education and contributes to a number of community outreach programs. He serves as the coordinator of the Pan-African Robotics Competition (PARC) Engineers League, a program that mentors young aspiring robotics enthusiasts from over thirty African countries. During his time at WPI, he served as a graduate instructor for Cobots for Kids, an outreach program designed to cultivate the next generation of talent in advanced manufacturing and robotics, with a special concentration on students from underrepresented and underserved groups.

Select Publications

Mbanisi, K.C., Gennert, M. and Li, Z., 2021, September. SocNavAssist: A Haptic Shared Autonomy Framework for Social Navigation Assistance of Mobile Telepresence Robots. In 2021 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Human-Machine Systems (ICHMS), (pp. 1-3).

Mbanisi, K.C., Shah, P., Somasse, G.B., Gangadia, D., Gennert, M.A., Towner, W. and Bergstrom, T.S., 2021, July. Preparing the Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Using Collaborative Robots & Experiential Learning (Work in Progress).

Kimpara, H., Mbanisi, K.C., Fu, J., Li, Z., Prokhorov, D. and Gennert, M.A., 2019. Human model-based active driving system in vehicular dynamic simulation. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 21(5), pp.1903-1914.

Lotfi, N., Mbanisi, C., Auslander, D., Berry, C., Rodriguez, L. and Molki, M., 2020, June. Promoting Open-source Hardware and Software Platforms in Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering Education. In ASEE annual conference exposition proceedings.