#SoCaltech: Gilchrist Johnson

“My interest in autonomous vehicles began with my undergraduate robotics research at the University of Virginia. It also comes from my personal experience during that time. My first semester, I was struck by a car in a hit-and-run. During my recovery, I had this realization that vehicles capable of detecting hazards and responding autonomously could prevent incidents like that.

Fully healed and motivated to pursue that interest, I joined Professor Soon-Jo Chung’s lab and shared my previous experience with autonomous vehicles. He recommended I join his Indy Autonomous Challenge team, which participates in invited competitions against different universities. Our goal is to develop autonomous vehicles and race them. Now, my research focuses on simulation and multivehicle planning, developing strategies to overtake and maneuver around other cars safely and reliably.

When I initially arrived here, the pace of learning felt intense, and I wondered when the theory would translate to practice. When I started my research a year later, the connection was immediate. Every single thing I learned—linear systems, nonlinear dynamics, and mathematical optimization—directly applied to my research.”

Gilchrist Johnson, a second-year graduate student and a senior research scientist at JPL, works in the lab of Soon-Jo Chung, the Bren Professor of Control and Dynamical Systems.

#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.