PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Dimitrios (Dimi) Apostolopoulos

Also known as Dimi Apostolopoulos

Dimitrios (Dimi) Apostolopoulos is a robotics researcher whose work spans autonomous Antarctic exploration and simulated lunar mobility testing. He earned a Robotics PhD at Carnegie Mellon in 1998, and Nomad found Antarctic meteorites through autonomous search and Bayesian classification in January 2000. At Carnegie Mellon, he led military and mining robotics programs, coauthored machine-learning studies of rover traction, and served as principal investigator for a wheel-track system that won a 2018 Popular Science award. In 2022, he was CEO of ProtoInnovations during NASA's VIPER wheel tests on simulated lunar soil. As of October 2026, he is Program Director at NREC and Principal Systems Scientist at the Robotics Institute.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1998–1999

    A robotics PhD

    He holds mechanical-engineering degrees from Aristotle University of Salonica and Carnegie Mellon, and earns a Robotics PhD at Carnegie Mellon in 1998. In 1999, at the Robotics Institute, he leads work on autonomous scientific exploration and robotic systems for space solar power.

  2. 1998–2000

    Nomad finds meteorites

    In January 2000, Nomad finds and classifies five indigenous meteorites at Elephant Moraine using autonomous control, scientific sensing and Bayesian classification. He coauthors the paper on the expedition and its science-autonomy system.

  3. 2001–2004

    Military robot programs

    He joins NREC in 2001 and leads programs for the Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle (2001–2002) and Gladiator (2002–2004).

  4. 2013

    Robots for underground mining

    In 2013, he serves as principal investigator and senior systems scientist at NREC for CMU's five-year agreement with Anglo American to develop mining robots, tools and autonomous technologies. The work targets underground jobs that are perilous and extremely challenging for humans.

  5. 2018–2019

    Rover traction and wheel-tracks

    As principal investigator, he helps develop NREC's reconfigurable wheel-track system, which wins Popular Science's 2018 Best of What's New Award. He coauthors papers on machine-learning methods for rover slippage in 2018 and 2019, including a study of slippage and immobilization detection.

  6. September 2021

    A scheduled MINExpo talk

    For September 2021, MINExpo schedules his talk on applied R&D in mining robotics at the National Robotics Engineering Center. At the time, he is a Senior Systems Scientist at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute and Program Director of NREC.

  7. 2022

    Lunar mobility for VIPER

    In 2022, he is CEO of ProtoInnovations while the company tests NASA's VIPER wheel on simulated lunar terrain and develops software controls for the rover's wheels. Engineers measure traction and movement over slopes and rocks.

  8. As of October 2026

    Robotics leadership at CMU

    As of October 2026, he is Program Director at NREC and a Principal Systems Scientist at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute. He leads work on autonomous mining robots, all-terrain mobility and unmanned ground vehicle design.

Career

  1. Since 1999Carnegie Mellon UniversityProgram Director, Program Lead
  2. 2022ProtoInnovationsCEO

Education

  1. 1998Carnegie Mellon UniversityMechanical-engineering degree and Robotics PhD
  2. Aristotle University of ThessalonikiMechanical-engineering degree

From the biography.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Dimitrios (Dimi) Apostolopoulos. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Carnegie Mellon University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Carnegie Mellon University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Carnegie Mellon University. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Dimitrios (Dimi) Apostolopoulos yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Robotics Institute: Seminar, October 1, 1999: Dimi Apostolopoulos cs.cmu.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Technology and Field Demonstration of Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites publications.ri.cmu.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Leadership - NREC nrec.ri.cmu.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Dimitrios (Dimi) Apostolopoulos - The Robotics Institute - CMU ri.cmu.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. CMU To Develop Robots for Anglo American PLC ri.cmu.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. PopSci Recognizes Wheel-Track With "Best of What's New" Award cs.cmu.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Rescheduled MinExpo to open in Vegas in September mobilehydraulictips.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. NASA Ames Astrogram - January 2022 nasa.gov. Checked 21 October 2026.