PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Sertac Karaman

Sertac Karaman is a roboticist and MIT professor whose research connects motion planning, autonomous vehicles and AI. He earned engineering degrees at Istanbul Technical University and MIT, joined MIT’s DARPA Urban Challenge team in 2007, and completed a doctorate at MIT in 2012. He coauthored RRT*, received the AIAA Orville and Wilbur Wright Graduate Award and the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Career Award, and gained tenure at MIT in 2019. He co-founded self-driving company Optimus Ride in 2015 and rose through MIT’s AeroAstro faculty ranks while discussing autonomous systems on Lex Fridman’s podcast in 2020. In 2025, he coauthored a paper on open Air Force AI challenges; he is a professor of aeronautics and astronautics, director of LIDS, and co-director of LEAN.

Works
305
Citations
19,382
h-index
58
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2007–2009

    Degrees and the Urban Challenge

    In 2007, he earns bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and computer engineering at Istanbul Technical University and joins MIT’s DARPA Urban Challenge team with Albert Huang; MIT’s vehicle is one of six to complete the 60-mile course. He earns an S.M. in mechanical engineering at MIT in 2009.

  2. 2011

    RRT* and an AIAA award

    In 2011, he coauthors “Sampling-based Algorithms for Optimal Motion Planning” with Emilio Frazzoli; the paper introduces PRM* and RRT*, algorithms that are provably asymptotically optimal. He receives the AIAA Orville and Wilbur Wright Graduate Award for exceptional aerospace research.

  3. 2012

    An MIT PhD and faculty post

    He completes a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT and joins its Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics as a Charles Stark Draper Assistant Professor in September 2012.

  4. 2015–2023

    Optimus Ride and MIT faculty

    In August 2015, he co-founds Optimus Ride, a self-driving vehicle company. He becomes an associate professor in MIT AeroAstro in 2016 and discusses autonomous flying, driving, simulation and game theory on Lex Fridman’s podcast in May 2020. MIT names him professor of aeronautics and astronautics in July 2023.

  5. 2017

    An IEEE robotics award

    In 2017, he receives the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Career Award for contributions to motion planning and control algorithms for robots and autonomous vehicles.

  6. June 2019

    Tenure at MIT

    In June 2019, MIT grants him tenure as an associate professor in Aeronautics and Astronautics.

  7. October 2025

    A paper on Air Force AI

    In October 2025, he coauthors “Advancing AI Challenges for the United States Department of the Air Force.” The paper describes public AI challenges, AI-ready datasets for open-source research, and progress in advancing AI research and applications.

  8. As of October 2026

    MIT professor and lab director

    He takes over as director of MIT’s Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems in 2021 and becomes professor of aeronautics and astronautics in July 2023. As of October 2026, he co-directs LEAN with Vivienne Sze; the group co-designs algorithms and computing hardware for low-energy autonomous vehicles.

Career

  1. Since 2016Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCharles Stark Draper Assistant Professor, Associate Professor
  2. From 2015Optimus RideCo-founder
  3. 2014–2016MIT CSAIL

Education

  1. 2012Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyS.M. in mechanical engineering
  2. 2007Istanbul Technical UniversityBachelor's degrees in mechanical and computer engineering

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

Most-cited works

  1. Sampling-based algorithms for optimal motion planning2011 · The International Journal of Robotics Research · 5,297 citations
  2. Anytime Motion Planning using the RRT2011 · IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation · 906 citationsWith Seth Teller
  3. Real-Time Motion Planning With Applications to Autonomous Urban Driving2009 · IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology · 887 citationsWith Jonathan P. How
  4. Incremental Sampling-based Algorithms for Optimal Motion Planning2010 · 704 citations
  5. Sparse-to-Dense: Depth Prediction from Sparse Depth Samples and a Single Image2018 · IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation · 671 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

Videos

YouTube videos in which Sertac Karaman speaks or appears, newest first. A model chose them from YouTube search results. List updated 20 October 2026.

  1. Sertac Karaman: Robots That Fly and Robots That Drive | Lex Fridman Podcast #97Lex Fridman · 20 May 2020 · 1 h 23 min
  2. Sertac Karaman (MIT) on Motion Planning in a Complex World - MIT Self-Driving CarsLex Fridman · 13 December 2017 · 1 h 2 min

Video data from YouTube API Services. By watching you agree to the YouTube Terms of Service. How we use YouTube data.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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.
  3. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Home karaman.mit.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Optimus Ride’s autonomous system makes self-driving vehicles a reality news.mit.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. [1105.1186] Sampling-based Algorithms for Optimal Motion Planning arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. MIT AeroAstro News September 2012 web.mit.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Sertac Karaman - MIT AeroAstro aeroastro.mit.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. #97 - Sertac Karaman: Robots That Fly and Robots That Drive | Lex Fridman Podcast lexfridman.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. 2017 RAS Award Recipients Announced - IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Website ieee-ras.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Saurabh Amin and Sertac Karaman awarded tenure – IDSS idss.mit.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. [2511.00267] Advancing AI Challenges for the United States Department of the Air Force arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. History | MIT LIDS mit.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  11. Low-Energy Autonomy and Navigation (LEAN) Research Group lean.mit.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.