Maggie Wang

robotics, space exploration, photography, writing

About

I am a first-year PhD student in Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford. My research involves developing robots with comprehensive, robust, and adaptable models that learn from their environment. The aim of this work is to ensure these robotic systems can be utilized in safety-critical, dynamic, and data-scarce scenarios, such as environmental protection and space exploration.

Before beginning my PhD, I worked on autonomous drones at Skydio and graduated from Harvard with a B.A. in Physics and S.M. in Computer Science. My experience with robotics includes perception systems for robot manipulation, motion planning for satellites, embedded systems for smart home thermostats, and path planning for fixed-wing planes.

My mission is to use robotics and physics to learn more about our amazing universe and further our collective consciousness. I am passionate about applying an engineering mindset to a variety of fields—such as improving the environment to combat global warming, deploying autonomous robots for deep space exploration, developing brain-computer interfaces to unlock our intellectual potential, building smart cities that save energy and improve quality of life, and creating economic policies that reduce inequality. I care deeply about educational empowerment, and I hope to give back to my community by mentoring young people pursuing STEM fields.