Brett Lopez, Ph.D.

Brett Lopez, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research focuses on autonomy, aerospace robotics, nonlinear and adaptive control, predictive control, trajectory planning, localization, and mapping. Lopez is affiliated with the VECTR Lab and maintains a website at https://samueli.ucla.edu/people/brett-lopez/. His email is btlopez@ucla.edu. He received his PhD and SM in Autonomy and Control from MIT in 2019 and his BS in Aerospace Engineering from UCLA in 2014. Lopez was recognized with the 2023 UCLA Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dept. Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2023 UCLA Faculty Career Development Award.

Brett T. Lopez is an Assistant Professor at UCLA, specializing in Control, Planning, Localization, Autonomy, and Robotics. His research focuses on developing robust control strategies for safety-critical systems, including adaptive control barrier functions and dynamic tube MPC for nonlinear systems. He also explores fast and safe trajectory planning for autonomous navigation in unknown environments, leveraging LiDAR and inertial data for precise localization. Lopez's work emphasizes real-time decision-making and agile flight dynamics, with applications in aerial and ground robotics. His contributions include advancements in collision avoidance, autonomous landing, and hybrid mobility systems for long-endurance operations.