Gill Pratt, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

781-292-2557
gill.pratt@olin.edu

Before coming to Olin, Dr. Pratt was Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a researcher in parallel computer hardware at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. As a member of MIT's AI Lab, he directed the MIT Leg Laboratory, focusing on the development of robots with legs and devices for helping people walk. In his research Dr. Pratt and his students emphasized "series-elastic" actuators with more natural properties than industrial robots possess, and "virtual model" control languages that allow natural dynamics and active control to work synergistically. Dr. Pratt's two-legged "dinosaur" robot was featured in a recent "Scientific American" article.

Dr. Pratt received excellent reviews while teaching MIT's core subject in computer architecture and has served as both a member and a mentor to several extracurricular student project groups. He is an enthusiast of hands-on, "do-learn" education, and has a strong interest in the societal aspects of technology, including "green" technologies like electric cars and larger issues like the impact of robotics on the quality of life.
 
 
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