Hugh Durrant-Whyte
Also known as Hugh F. Durrant-Whyte, Hugh Francis Durrant-Whyte
Hugh Durrant-Whyte is a robotics researcher whose work on nonlinear filtering helped develop simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM). He earned engineering degrees in London and Pennsylvania, then built robotics research at the University of Sydney's field-robotics centre. He led National ICT Australia, established a university centre that applied machine learning to scientific research, and served as the UK Ministry of Defence's Chief Scientific Adviser. As of October 2026, he is New South Wales Chief Scientist & Engineer and an ex-officio member of the state's Net Zero Commission.
- Now at
- New South Wales Chief Scientist & Engineer and Net Zero Commission
- Works
- 425
- Citations
- 35,532
- h-index
- 73
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.
Timeline
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1983–1986
Engineering degrees
He earns an engineering degree at the University of London in 1983, then an MSE in 1985 and a PhD in systems engineering in 1986 at the University of Pennsylvania.
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1987–2010
Oxford and Sydney robotics
He lectures in engineering science at Oxford from 1987 to 1995, then moves to Sydney in 1995 and establishes and directs the Australian Centre for Field Robotics through 2010.
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2006
A tutorial on SLAM
He and Tim Bailey publish a two-part tutorial on SLAM that explains its probabilistic form and core methods, including EKF-SLAM and FastSLAM. His work on nonlinear filtering for robot control leads to SLAM, used by self-driving cars, drones and autonomous underwater vehicles.
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2009
Australian Academy fellowship
The Australian Academy of Science elects him a Fellow in 2009.
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2010–2014
Leading NICTA
He leads National ICT Australia (NICTA) as CEO from 2010 to 2014.
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2015–2018
Data science and defence roles
In 2015, he returns to the University of Sydney and establishes the Centre for Translational Data Science to apply machine-learning and data-science methods to research. He becomes the UK Ministry of Defence's Chief Scientific Adviser in April 2017 and serves through 2018.
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September 2018
NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer
He starts as NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer in September 2018, bringing business, research and government together to drive innovation in the state.
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September 2026
NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer
He is NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer in September 2026 and serves as the ex-officio Chief Scientist and Engineer on the NSW Net Zero Commission.
Sources and credits
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