Victoria Preston '16

She/her

Assistant Professor of Engineering

Active

Headshot of Victoria Preston

Office

MH 333

education

  • B.S. Engineering, Olin College
  • S.M. Autonomous Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program
  • Ph.D. Autonomous Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program

research

  • Scientific and Environmental Robotics
  • Decision-making
  • Planning under uncertainty

Dr. Victoria Preston is a field roboticist and educator, acting as an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Olin and Guest Investigator at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

She uses her expertise in scientific robotics to co-develop tools with students and scientists to explore and understand the most extreme environments on earth -- deep sea volcanoes, coastal estuaries, and rapidly-evolving coral reefs. Her teaching philosophy centers on creating authentic, problem-driven, interactive projects that foster both skill mastery and critical contemplation on the definitions of "robots" and "intelligence." Through both classroom and research activities, Victoria coaches students through interdisciplinary work across engineering, science, art, and policy to develop holistic solutions for studying the planet and societal intersections with it.

Victoria is an alumna of Olin College ('16), was a Fulbright student at TalTech in Estonia under Prof. Maarja Kruusmaa at the Centre for Biorobotics, and earned her SM and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program. Her thesis work, advised by Dr. Anna Michel (WHOI) and Prof. Nicholas Roy (MIT), focused on intelligent decision-making for modern scientific autonomous underwater robots tasked with mapping dynamic, ephemeral water masses in the deep ocean, and was applied to understanding hydrothermal plumes in the Gulf of California. Prior to starting at Olin, she held serial post-doctoral research positions at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Field Robotics Laboratory at Northeastern University with Prof. Hanumant Singh, participated in several oceanographic research cruises to study extremely active hydrothermal vents in the Northwest Pacific and East Pacific, and began a collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico for visually tracking coral health in southwestern Puerto Rican reefs. When not in the classroom, lab, or the field, she is likely to be found in the garden attempting to optimize vegetable yields or wandering the New England forests.