Yiannis Papelis

Yiannis Papelis currently serves as the Executive Director of the Virginia Institute for Spaceflight and Autonomy (VISA) and as Chief Technology Officer at the Virginia Modeling Analysis & Simulation Center (VMASC) since January 2022. Previously, Yiannis held various positions at VMASC, including Research Professor and Director of the VR and Robotics Laboratory from December 2011 to February 2022, focusing on unmanned systems and autonomous robotics. Additional experience includes roles as Summer Faculty Fellow at the Office of Naval Research, Vice President for Publications at the Society for Modeling and Simulation, and various academic positions at the University of Central Florida and the University of Iowa. Yiannis earned a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Iowa, a MSEE from Purdue University, and a BSEE from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.