Thursday, Dec 12, 2024 • Brian Lopez : contact

Like many children captivated by Jurassic Park, Joe Cloud (’19 BS, Computer Engineering) dreamed of becoming a paleontologist and digging up dinosaur bones. But learning that the film's lifelike creatures were sophisticated animatronics sparked a different interest—one that would eventually lead him to pursue a career in space robotics.

On Dec. 13, Cloud will receive his doctorate in computer engineering from The University of Texas at Arlington at Globe Life Field. Soon after, he'll officially begin his full-time role at NASA developing software for lunar excavation robots to help establish a sustainable presence on the moon.

"It is an exciting time to be developing solutions that will enable us to leverage the resources we find on the moon, instead of having to launch everything from Earth," Cloud said.

NASA's Artemis program is interested in sending humans to the lunar south pole due to the presence of near-continuous solar light and water ice deposits discovered in its permanently shadowed regions. At the Kennedy Space Center's Swamp Works lab, Cloud has worked on robotics projects focused on in-situ resource utilization since joining NASA’s Pathways Internship Program in 2019.

"We're developing robots that will be used to extract valuable resources from the lunar surface to sustain operations there," he said.

Throughout his graduate studies, Cloud developed learning-based methodologies for autonomous operation of both robotic manipulators and field robots. He credits the mentorship of faculty who supported his research journey from his undergraduate years through his doctorate at UTA.

"The faculty mentors I've worked with at UTA have been instrumental in helping me develop my research skills and pursue meaningful problems," Cloud said.

As NASA pushes toward its lunar exploration goals, Cloud sees his work on autonomous systems as key to enabling reliable robotic operations.

"Now I'm helping develop robots that will actually excavate the lunar surface—it's come full circle in the most unexpected way,” Cloud said.