PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Joshua Smith

Also known as Joshua R. Smith, Josh Smith

Joshua R. Smith is a researcher whose work connects AI, sensing and robotic manipulation. He earned degrees at Williams, Cambridge and MIT, developed FiberFingerprint at Escher Labs, and worked on battery-free sensing and wireless-power systems at Intel. At UW, he helped develop Ambient Backscatter in 2013 and coauthored DYNAMO-GRASP in 2023; IEEE named him a Fellow in 2019, and the National Academy of Inventors named him a Fellow in 2021. As of October 2026, he is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science at UW and leads the Sensor Systems Laboratory.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1991–1999

    Degrees at Williams, Cambridge and MIT

    He earns a B.A. in computer science and philosophy at Williams in 1991, an M.S. at MIT in 1995, an M.A. in natural sciences at Cambridge in 1997, and a Ph.D. at MIT's Media Lab in 1999 under Neil Gershenfeld. His dissertation is Electric Field Imaging.

  2. 1999–2004

    FiberFingerprint at Escher Labs

    After finishing his Ph.D. in 1999, he becomes director of Escher Labs and develops FiberFingerprint, which uses paper's surface pattern for identification, authentication and copy protection.

  3. 2004–2010

    Battery-free sensing at Intel

    From 2004 to 2010, he works at Intel Research Seattle. He begins WISP, a programmable battery-free sensor platform, and founds the Wireless Resonant Energy Link, which demonstrates wireless transfer of tens of watts.

  4. 2013

    Ambient Backscatter

    He joins the University of Washington faculty in 2010, where his group is called the Sensor Systems Lab. In 2013, he and Shyam Gollakota develop Ambient Backscatter, which uses ambient television and cellular signals for power and communication and earns a Best Paper Award at SIGCOMM.

  5. 2019

    An IEEE Fellowship

    He becomes a Fellow of the IEEE in 2019 for contributions to far- and near-field wireless power, backscatter communication and electric-field sensing.

  6. 2021

    A National Academy of Inventors Fellowship

    He is elected to the 2021 class of Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors for creations in wireless power, communication, sensing and robotics.

  7. 2023

    DYNAMO-GRASP for suction grasping

    In 2023, he coauthors DYNAMO-GRASP, which uses physics-based simulation and data-driven modeling to detect suction-grasp points while accounting for object dynamics. The paper tests the method in simulated and real-world environments.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and Sensor Systems Lab leader

    In September 2025, Karen Leung succeeds him as director of the UW+Amazon Science Hub, which he launched. As of October 2026, he is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science at the University of Washington and leads the Sensor Systems Laboratory. His focus areas include artificial intelligence and interaction with the physical world.

Career

  1. Since 2010University of WashingtonProfessor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science
  2. Until 2025UW+Amazon Science HubDirector
  3. 2004–2010Intel
  4. 1999–2004Escher LabsDirector

Education

  1. 1999Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPh.D.
  2. 1997University of CambridgeM.A. in natural sciences
  3. 1995Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyM.S.
  4. 1991Williams CollegeB.A.

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Joshua Smith. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Joshua Smith. 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.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Washington. 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. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Washington. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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

  1. Joshua R. Smith, PhD sensor.cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Joshua Smith, Professor - Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Overview ‹ Joshua Smith — MIT Media Lab media.mit.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. WISP (Wireless Identification and Sensing Platform) sensor.cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Professor Joshua R. Smith Honored as IEEE Fellow | UW Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering ece.uw.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Professor Joshua R. Smith elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors for his innovations in wireless power, communication, sensing and robotics ece.uw.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. DYNAMO-GRASP: DYNAMics-aware Optimization for GRASP Point Detection in Suction Grippers proceedings.mlr.press. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. UW + Amazon Science Hub announces new director – UW+Amazon Science Hub sciencehub.uw.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Josh Smith | UW Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering people.ece.uw.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.