UTC's new engineering, computer science dean is military drone expert

Daniel Pack experiments with 'robot drones' that control themselves

Daniel Pack works with a fixed-wing drone in his lab.
Daniel Pack works with a fixed-wing drone in his lab.
photo Daniel Pack, Ph.D., the newly appointed Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

College at a glance

Name: The UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science Degrees: Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees Enrollment: 1,029 undergraduate students in 2014 Specialty programs: UTC SimCenter: National Center for Computational Engineering Source: UTC

photo One of Pack's quad-rotor drones in flight.
photo One of Pack's fixed-wing drones in flight.

Unmanned military aircraft that can think for themselves - robot drones - are a specialty of Dr. Daniel Pack, the newly appointed dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

"When these drones have to do an air-to-air fight with enemy drones, they're not going to wait for a human commander to tell them what to do," Pack said.

Pack also has experimented with drones a soldier could control on the battlefield using brain-wave sensors inside his helmet.

"As they think the commands, these machines will execute those commands," he said.

UTC Chancellor Steven Angle announced Pack's appointment on Tuesday.

"We are fortunate to have a teacher, researcher and scholar of Dr. Pack's caliber join us at UTC. His decision to lead our Engineering and Computer Science College demonstrates our outstanding achievements and the potential for future growth and community impact," Angle said in a statement. "His experience in computer engineering and cloud technology is a perfect fit for Chattanooga and our Gig City initiative."

Pack currently works at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he's the Mary Lou Clarke Endowed Professor and Chairwoman in electrical and computer engineering. He has led a department of 32 faculty members with 850 students and managed a $6 million budget plus a research enterprise of more than $3 million annually, UTC said in a statement.

Pack said he decided to accept the job at UTC because of its "visionary leadership," its dedicated staff and because Chattanooga as a community supports entrepreneurship and technology.

"My hope is being a leader in the university's effort to really provide high-caliber engineers and computer scientists," Pack said. "I want to make sure that the college graduates a high-caliber workforce to meet [area businesses'] needs."

Prior to joining UTSA, Pack spent 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he held faculty positions and was founding director of the Academy Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research.

Pack has an experimental fleet of 10 airplane-like, fixed-wing drones with 6-foot wingspans that can carry about 35 pounds and 17 quad-rotor drones with four helicopter blades.

"The most [drones] I got up at once was four flying at the same time," Pack said.

While it was easy to fly drones over the Air Force Academy, he said, it's difficult in civilian airspace for logistical reasons. The Federal Aviation Administration requires that one human pilot be on hand to take over each drone's controls and that all drones stay in sight of the pilots.

Pack plans to bring some of his experimental drones with him, though he's not sure how many. He also hopes to continue his drone research - though his first priority will be attending to the duties of his new job as dean.

Drone technology offers learning opportunities for computer science students and engineering students in various fields of study, he said, such as electrical to mechanical engineers. Drones hold promise for commercial and personal use, Pack said. For example, he said, a drone could hover over and guard its owner during a walk at night.

Pack holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from Purdue University. His dissertation examined sensor-based control for a quadruped walking robot. He earned a master's degree from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University.

Pack has helped capture more than $1 million annually in research funding on cooperative multiple unmanned air vehicles projects from government and industry partners and has published over 130 journal and conference papers along with numerous chapters in embedded systems textbooks. His areas of research include sensor-based intelligent control, cooperative unmanned aerial systems, robotics, embedded systems and computer security.

"We appreciate the service and leadership of Dr. Pack during this time of transition," Angle said in a statement.

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or twitter.com/meetfor business or 423-757-6651.

Upcoming Events