Wagner appointed to early career and development professorship
11/28/2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Alan Wagner, assistant professor of aerospace engineering, was one of seven faculty members in the College of Engineering who were recently appointed to early career and development professorships.
Wagner was appointed a Hartz Family Career Development Professorship in Engineering. He will hold the respective professorship for a three-year term.
Early career and development professorships are awarded to outstanding faculty early in their academic career within the Penn State College of Engineering and recognize current achievements and demonstrate a belief in potential.
Wagner joined the Department of Aerospace Engineering in August 2016, having previously been a social robotics researcher at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, where he worked in the Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems Laboratory. He is also affiliated with the Penn State Rock Ethics Institute.
His research primarily focuses on developing the theoretical underpinnings necessary for human-robot social relations and the design and creation of systems which can interact with people pro-socially as they relate to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in search-and-rescue and humanitarian missions.
Wagner’s research has been featured in Scientist Magazine, Popular Science, The Wall Street Journal, Science, and on CBS News. His work was ranked 13th in TIME magazine’s Top 50 Inventions of 2010.
All faculty members selected for professorships were done so following a recommendation from the Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering, Justin Schwartz, for their outstanding teaching and research initiatives.