Nick Cheney

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science

I direct the UVM Neurobotics Lab, an interdisciplinary group of thinkers and do-ers who draw inspiration from biological systems to design machine learning algorithms for artificial neural networks. We focus on creating more flexible, scalable, and context-aware robots and decision-making systems through a variety of techniques like deep learning, reinforcement learning, evolutionary adaptation, development, and meta-learning. We've been extremely fortunate to have found success in this work, and are grateful to have been recognized with things like a NSF CAREER Award or the SIGEVO Impact Award.

In addition to our role as an algorithm factory, our lab also strives to use machine learning to accelerate science -- connecting with outstanding researchers and practitioners from various fields (like medicine, agriculture, and environmental science) to collectively make a positive impact on our society.

Though I thoroughly enjoy being an interdisciplinary being, I am glad to have found a home in the Vermont Complex Systems Center. My path to get here was incredibly fun and highlights my wide variety of academic interests and passion for bringing them together, most notably during a PhD in Computational Biology and Biological Statistics at Cornell, advised by Hod Lipson and Steve Strogatz.

Selected Press

Evolving soft robots
I Programmer, April 20, 2013