Stefan B. Williams

Professor of Marine Robotics at the University of Sydney’s Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR). He received a PhD from the University of Sydney in 2002 and a Bachelor of Applied Science with First Class Honors in 1997 from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Prof. Williams has established a vibrant, cutting-edge research group in marine robotics within the ACFR and has made significant advances in subsea simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) and seafloor modelling. He has introduced fundamental new insights in the areas of navigation, planning, control and machine learning to allow these platforms to operate in challenging environments. In leading Australia’s IMOS Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Facility (2007-23), he investigated methods required for successful application of AUV systems to the survey of marine habitats. This was notoriously difficult given the wavelength dependent attenuation of light underwater and the presence of turbidity and other distractors. He was one of the first researchers to generate detailed, high-resolution 3D models of the seafloor using data collected by AUV systems. His work focused on fusing information from visual and acoustic sensors at the local scale and more broadly across the environment, demonstrating how recent innovations in machine learning can be applied to fully unsupervised habitat assessments to drive information-based exploration. He has led research cruises to sites around Australia and overseas, deploying AUVs for studies in marine engineering, ecology, geoscience, and archaeology.