/College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Katherine "Katie" Skinner, PhD

Katherine (Katie) SkinnerAssociate Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Office: TBD

Email Address: katherine.skinner@stonybrook.edu

Phone Number: TBD

Bio:

Dr. Katherine A. (Katie) Skinner is an incoming Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Between 2021-2026, Dr. Skinner was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Robotics at the University of Michigan, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Prior to this appointment, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Skinner received an M.S. and Ph.D. from the Robotics Institute at the University of Michigan, and a B.S.E. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with a Certificate in Applications of Computing from Princeton University. She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, ONR Young Investigator Award, ON&T Early Career Ocean Professional (ECOP) Award, and an IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters Best Paper Award.
 

Education:

  • Robotics Institute at the University of Michigan, Ph.D
  • Robotics Institute at the University of Michigan, M.S.
  • Princeton University B.S.E. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with a Certificate in Applications of Computing
 

Professional Experience:

  • Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Stony Brook University
  • Assistant Professor in the Department of Robotics, University of Michigan,
  • Postdoctoral Fellow in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Awards & Publications:

  • Ocean News & Technology Early Career Ocean Professional Award — Marine Technology Society (2025)
  • Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award — Office of Naval Research (2024)
  • NSF CAREER Award — National Science Foundation (2024)
  • Best Paper Award — IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (2023)
  • Richard and Eleanor Towner Prize for Outstanding Ph.D. Research Honorable Mention — U-M College of Engineering (2018)

For a full listing of Professor Skinner's publications, please visit her Google Scholar page. 

Overview: 

Dr. Skinner's research focuses on robot perception and machine learning for field robotics across marine, space, and autonomous driving application

Highlights & Accomplishments: 

  • ONR Young Investigator Award, 2025 
  • Ocean News & Technology Early Career Ocean Professional (ECOP) Award, 2025 
  • NSF CAREER Award, 2024 
  • IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters Best Paper Award, 2023 

Research Interests:

  • Field Robotics (underwater, space, autonomous vehicles),
  • Perception,
  • Robot Learning,
  • Computer Vision,
  • Multi-Sensor Fusion
  • TBD