Davide Scaramuzza is a Professor of Robotics and Perception at the University of Zurich, where he does research at the intersection of robotics, computer vision, and machine learning. His goal is to enable autonomous, agile navigation of micro drones using both standard and neuromorphic event-based cameras. He pioneered autonomous, vision-based navigation of drones, which inspired the navigation algorithm of the NASA Mars helicopter. He has served as a consultant for the United Nations on topics such as disaster response and disarmament, as well as the Fukushima Action Plan on Nuclear Safety.
For his research contributions, he won many prestigious awards, such as a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Career Award, an SNF-ERC Starting Grant, a Google Research Award, a Facebook Distinguished Faculty Research Award, two NASA TechBrief Awards for new aerospace technology, and several paper awards. In 2015, he co-founded Zurich-Eye, today Facebook Zurich, which developed the world-leading virtual-reality headset, Oculus Quest, which sold over 10 million units. Many aspects of his research have been prominently featured in wider media, such as The New York Times, The Economist, Forbes, BBC News, and Discovery Channel.
