PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Xiaobo Tan

Xiaobo Tan is a robotics and control researcher who combines reinforcement learning and data-enabled predictive control with soft and underwater robots. After earning automatic-control degrees at Tsinghua University in 1995 and 1998 and a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Maryland in 2002, he completed a postdoctoral position at Maryland's Institute for Systems Research and joined Michigan State University in 2004. His projects include AquaSWARM for autonomous aquatic monitoring, the GRACE robotic fish for tracking Great Lakes fish, a $3 million NSF water traineeship, and worm-inspired and cable-driven soft robots. Elected a Fellow of IEEE in 2017 and ASME in 2019 and Editor-in-Chief of IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics in September 2024, he serves as Associate Chair for Research, an MSU Research Foundation Distinguished Professor, and the Richard M. Hong Endowed Chair in electrical and computer engineering at Michigan State University.

Now at
Michigan State University and Michigan State University Research Foundation
Works
18

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 1995–2002

    Degrees in automatic control

    He earns bachelor's and master's degrees in automatic control from Tsinghua University in 1995 and 1998, then completes a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Maryland in 2002.

  2. 2004–2010

    Joining MSU and leading AquaSWARM

    After a postdoctoral position at the University of Maryland's Institute for Systems Research, he joins the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan State University in 2004. He receives the NSF CAREER Award in 2006 and leads AquaSWARM in 2009, a three-year project to develop small autonomous underwater robots for aquatic monitoring. In July 2010, Michigan State promotes him to associate professor with tenure.

  3. 2014–2016

    GRACE and full professorship

    In September 2014, he develops GRACE (Gliding Robot ACE), a hybrid of an underwater glider and a robotic fish designed to track lake trout, walleye, and lake sturgeon. Michigan State University promotes him to full professor in 2015 and names him an MSU Foundation Professor in January 2016.

  4. 2017

    IEEE Fellow for control work

    In 2017, IEEE elevates him to Fellow for contributions to modeling and control of smart materials and underwater robots.

  5. 2019

    ASME Fellowship

    In 2019, ASME names him a Fellow for contributions to the development, modeling, and control of electromechanical systems in smart materials, soft robotics, and underwater robotics.

  6. 2023

    Water traineeship and Beal Award

    In 2023, he becomes principal investigator of a $3 million NSF Research Traineeship program on addressing real-world water problems through 2028, serves as general chair of the 2023 American Control Conference, and receives MSU's William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award.

  7. 2024–2026

    Mechatronics editor and soft-robot control

    In September 2024, he is elected the next Editor-in-Chief of IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics. His team presents a worm-inspired robot for crawling through corrugated agricultural drainage pipes in December 2025, and in June 2026 he coauthors an arXiv preprint that trains a reinforcement-learning policy to decide when to invoke data-enabled predictive control for a three-dimensional cable-driven soft robotic arm.

  8. As of October 2026

    Hong Endowed Chair at MSU

    As of October 2026, he is Associate Chair for Research, an MSU Research Foundation Distinguished Professor, and the Richard M. Hong Endowed Chair in electrical and computer engineering at Michigan State University.

Career

  1. Since 2004Michigan State UniversityFull Professor, Associate Professor
  2. NowMichigan State University Research FoundationDistinguished Professor

Education

  1. 2002University of MarylandPh.D. in electrical and computer engineering
  2. 1998Tsinghua UniversityMaster's degree in automatic control
  3. 1995Tsinghua UniversityBachelor's degree in automatic control

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Michigan State 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.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Michigan State 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.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Michigan State 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.
  4. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Michigan State University. 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.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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

  1. Xiaobo Tan msu-prod.dotcms.cloud. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Xiaobo Tan named to Hong Endowed Chair in Electrical Engineering engineering.msu.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. Alumnus Xiaobo Tan Earns Tenure at MSU ece.umd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. Alum Xiaobo Tan receives new autonomous robotic fish grant isr.umd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. Alum Xiaobo Tan developing robotic fish to ‘stalk’ real fish in the Great Lakes ece.umd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Alumnus Xiaobo Tan promoted to full professor at Michigan State ece.umd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. Alum Xiaobo Tan named 'Foundation Professor' at Michigan State | Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering ece.umd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. CSS IEEE Fellows Archive | IEEE Control Systems Society ieeecss.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  9. Alumnus Xiaobo Tan elevated to ASME Fellow robotics.umd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  10. MSU: More trained leaders needed to solve global water crisis msutoday.msu.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  11. MSU Engineering professor elected TMECH editor-in-chief engineering.msu.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  12. Research Spotlight: What happens when you cross a worm with a robot? engineering.msu.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  13. [2606.26048] Deep Reinforcement Learning-Enhanced Event-Triggered Data-Driven Predictive Control for a 3D Cable-Driven Soft Robotic Arm arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  14. Xiaobo Tan | College of Engineering | Michigan State University engineering.msu.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.