John Valasek is professor of aerospace engineering and Director of the Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory at Texas A&M University. He was the Founding Director of the Center for Autonomous Vehicles and Sensor Systems (CANVASS), and has industrial experience with Northrop Corporation, Aircraft Division. His research is focused on bridging the gap between traditional computer science topics and aerospace engineering topics, and has been funded by AFOSR, AFRL, ONR, NSF, NASA, FAA, and industry. John has served on several autonomy and aerospace studies and panels for the National Academies. He is the author or editor of numerous publications including Advances in Intelligent and Autonomous Aerospace Systems (AIAA, 2012) and Morphing Aerospace Vehicles and Structures (AIAA, 2012). He holds a B.S. in aerospace engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas. He is an AIAA Fellow, member of the AIAA Unmanned Systems Technical Program Committee, the AIAA Intelligent Systems Technical Committee, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics.