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Mary (Missy) Cummings

Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Director, Humans and Automation Laboratory
Human-Systems Engineering Track

Mary (Missy) Cummings received her B.S. in Mathematics from the United States Naval Academy in 1988, her M.S. in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994, and her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2003. A naval officer and military pilot from 1988-1999, she was one of the Navy's first female fighter pilots.

Her previous teaching experience includes instructing for the U.S. Navy at Pennsylvania State University and as an assistant professor for the Virginia Tech Engineering Fundamentals Division. Her research interests include human supervisory control, human-unmanned vehicle interaction, bounded collaborative human-computer decision making, direct-perception decision support, simulation and evaluation of human interaction in automated systems, and the ethical and social impact of technology.


Related News:

Prof. Cummings interviewed in WIRED Business Conference: Drones, Tractors & Beyond (video)  –  May 5, 2012

Missy Cummings quoted in this piece about the pressures faced by remote drone pilots: “Boredom, terror, deadly mistakes: Secrets of the new drone war” – Salon.com – April 3, 2012

Missy Cummings interviewed on Science Friday: “Drone Technology Reaches New Heights” –  Science Friday – February 3, 2012

Missy Cummings quoted in article about iPhone-controlled drones: “Using a phone to fly a drone” – MIT News – November 8, 2011

MIT News story about research of Professor Missy Cummings and ESD PhD student Jason Ryan: “Clearing the decks: A new planning tool helps direct traffic on aircraft carriers” MIT News – August 2, 2011

Missy Cummings talks about smartphone-operated drones on The Colbert Report - July 27, 2011; Read more and view clip

Missy Cummings featured in Boston Globe article about UAVs: “The sky’s the limit” The Boston Globe – July 18, 2011

Missy Cummings discusses unmanned vehicles in article in The Futurist – November-December 2009

Missy Cummings quoted in article about unmanned airborne systems Aviation Week – September 10, 2009

Missy Cummings and Humans and Automation Lab iPhone project The UnOfficial Apple Weblog – August 10, 2009; also on Technorati; originally on Wired.com – August 7, 2009

Prof. Missy Cummings quoted in article on unmanned aerial vehicles “Are enlisted airmen next to pilot UAVs?” Air Force Times – December 23, 2008

 
Mary (Missy) Cummings

Contact info:

Mary (Missy) Cummings
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Building 33-311
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307

Phone: 617.252-1512
Email: missyc "at" mit.edu

 

         
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