The
world of science recognizes James McLurkin as a visionary leader in distributed
robotic systems. An example of his acumen is the iRobot Swarm project,
one of the world’s largest swarm of robots. The swarm is programmed
with distributed algorithms, which is software that produces complex group
behaviors from the interactions of many simple individuals.
These ideas are not new — ants, bees, wasps,
and termites have been running this type of software for 120 million years.
Yet, McLurkin describes his ability to synchronize nature, science and
technology as equal parts science and fun. "It’s just putting
things together, not that much different from LEGOs," he says.
McLurkin, a doctoral student at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence
Lab, put things together as a child, spending hours with LEGO bricks and
eventually creating his own video games. The MIT design competitions on
NOVA, a public television series about science, further intrigued him.
James McLurkin
His penchant for patterns took shape later in life.
McLurkin admits that he was not a good student in middle school, and that he
never took honors classes. A high school science teacher recognized McLurkin’s
abilities—such as building a robot that combined a toy car and squirt
gun—and placed him in honors courses that challenged him. "I can’t
remember a time I wasn’t building something," he says.
"Follow
your passions, discover what you like to do, and then do it to the best
of your ability."
McLurkin says he still must stay disciplined in his studies
as he nears completion of his Ph.D. degree in computer science. Doing so is
easy because the robots are so much fun. While grateful for and humbled by
his achievements, he looks forward to forging new frontiers.
"Yes, I’m able to build impressive robotic systems, but that’s
not enough. Every great scientist must contribute to society in a much broader
context. It is important for me to reach out to students and show them that
science and engineering can be a lot of fun for students of all genders and
colors. Your job never feels like work if you love what you do. Follow your
passions, discover what you like to do, and then do it to the best of your
ability," he says.
McLurkin holds degrees in electrical engineering, mechanical
engineering and computer science. In 2003, he received the Lemelson-MIT Student
Prize, which is awarded to promising MIT student inventors. He also was recognized
by Time magazine as one of five leading robotics engineers and by Black
Enterprise magazine as one of its "Best and Brightest Under 40."
