PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Giuseppe Loianno

Giuseppe Loianno is an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at UC Berkeley and director of the Agile Robotics and Perception Lab, where he develops perception, learning and control algorithms for autonomous robots. He earned automation engineering degrees at the University of Naples Federico II in 2007 and 2010 and completed a doctorate there in 2014. His career took him through the University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab and NYU Tandon, where he joined the faculty in 2018, before his move to Berkeley in July 2025. In 2023, he coauthored “Learning to Fly in Seconds,” which used reinforcement learning to transfer motor control from simulation to a real quadrotor after 18 seconds of training on a consumer laptop.

Works
175
Citations
4,991
h-index
38
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 28 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2007–2010

    Automation engineering in Naples

    He earns a BSc in December 2007 and an MSc in February 2010, both in automation engineering with honours at the University of Naples Federico II. From September 2009 to March 2010, he develops his master’s thesis on micro aerial vehicles at ETH Zurich’s ASL laboratory under Davide Scaramuzza.

  2. 2014

    A doctorate in robotics

    In May 2014, he completes a PhD in computer and control engineering at the University of Naples Federico II, with a focus on robotics. His doctoral supervisors are Vincenzo Lippiello and Vijay Kumar. His later roles at the University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab include postdoctoral researcher under Kumar, research scientist and team leader.

  3. September 2018

    Joining NYU Tandon

    In September 2018, he joins NYU Tandon as an assistant professor in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and heads the new Agile Robotics and Perception Lab. His work combines AI and robotics to develop smaller, more autonomous drones, including a Tokyo Electric Power Company project to inspect conditions inside the Fukushima power plant.

  4. 2022

    Awards for autonomous robots

    In 2022, he receives an NSF CAREER Award, with a five-year, $600,000 grant for “Re-Thinking the Perception-Action Paradigm for Agile Autonomous Robots.” He also receives a DARPA Young Faculty Award in 2022. The 2022 IROS Toshio Fukuda Young Professional Award honours his contributions to perception-based navigation for agile autonomous aerial and ground robots.

  5. September 2023

    Editing Robotics and Automation Letters

    In September 2023, he becomes a senior editor of IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

  6. November 2023

    Learning to Fly in Seconds

    In November 2023, he coauthors “Learning to Fly in Seconds” with Jonas Eschmann and Dario Albani. The work uses reinforcement learning to transfer direct motor-speed control from simulation to a real quadrotor after 18 seconds of training on a consumer laptop.

  7. July 2025

    Joining Berkeley EECS

    In July 2025, he joins UC Berkeley’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences as an associate professor, moving from NYU Tandon.

  8. As of October 2026

    Directing the Berkeley robotics lab

    As of October 2026, he is an associate professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and director of the Agile Robotics and Perception Lab. His research develops perception, learning and control algorithms for autonomous robots that navigate complex, changing environments.

Career

  1. Since 2025University of California, BerkeleyAssociate Professor
  2. NowUniversity of California, BerkeleyDirector of the Agile Robotics and Perception Lab
  3. Until 2025New York UniversityAssociate Professor
  4. From 2018New York UniversityAssistant Professor
  5. 2018–2025New York UniversityHead of the Agile Robotics and Perception Lab
  6. University of PennsylvaniaPostdoctoral Researcher, GRASP Lab
  7. University of PennsylvaniaResearch Scientist, GRASP Lab
  8. University of PennsylvaniaTeam Leader, GRASP Lab

Education

  1. 2014University of Naples Federico IIPhD in Computer and Control Engineering (Robotics)
  2. 2010University of Naples Federico IIMSc in Automation Engineering with honours
  3. 2010ETH ZurichMaster's thesis researcher, ASL laboratory
  4. 2007University of Naples Federico IIBSc in Automation Engineering with honours

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Checked career sources: loianno.wordpress.com, aero.berkeley.edu, engineering.nyu.edu, arplaboratory.github.io, pages.github.berkeley.edu.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Giuseppe Loianno yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Welcome to the Homepage of Dr. Giuseppe Loianno – Research Scientist and Team leader loianno.wordpress.com. Checked 28 October 2026.
  2. Giuseppe Loianno - Aerospace Engineering aero.berkeley.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  3. NYU Tandon Professor Advances Drone Technology for Agriculture and Critical Infrastructure engineering.nyu.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  4. NYU Tandon researcher wins NSF CAREER Award for boosting the ability of robots to navigate in challenging environments engineering.nyu.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  5. NYU Tandon researcher wins IROS 2022 Young Professional Award engineering.nyu.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  6. Agile Robotics And Perception Lab arplaboratory.github.io. Checked 28 October 2026.
  7. Learning to Fly in Seconds arxiv.org. Checked 28 October 2026.
  8. Announcements - EECS C106B Sp25 pages.github.berkeley.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  9. Giuseppe Loianno | EECS at UC Berkeley www2.eecs.berkeley.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.