Dr. Brian Bingham is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts. He is also a Guest Investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Deep Submergence Laboratory (WHOI-DSL).
Dr. Bingham's research focuses on increasing the scientific capabilities of underwater robots, specifically how they navigate in the deep ocean. Based on a background in dynamics and control systems, he works on hardware (instruments) and software (algorithms) for improving the precision and the robustness of underwater robot navigation. Currently, Dr. Bingham is working on bringing together in-situ chemical sensing and real-time localization so that future autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) can make decisions based on their environment.
Dr. Bingham has participated in recent expeditions collecting vent snails in the Lau Basin (South Pacific), measuring heat-flux of hydrothermal vents at the Juan de Fuca Ridge (off the Seattle coast), mapping the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and surveying ancient shipwrecks in the Cyclades islands and in the Black Sea. Dr. Bingham holds Ph.D. and S.M. degrees in from MIT and a B.S. from the University of Missouri-Rolla - all in Mechanical Engineering.