Vandi Verma

Vandana "Vandi" Verma is a space roboticist and chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, known for driving the Mars rovers, notably Curiosity and Perseverance, using software including PLEXIL programming technology that she co-wrote and developed. Verma was born and grew up partly in Halwara, India; her father was a pilot in the Indian Air Force. She gained her first qualification, a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh, India. She went on to gain a master's in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)

followed by a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon in 2005, with a thesis entitled Tractable Particle Filters for Robot Fault Diagnosis.At CMU, she developed in interest in robotics in unknown environments. She was involved in a 3-year astrobiology experimental station in the Atacama desert. The desert was chosen because of the similarities between its hostile environment and the surface of Mars. She won a competition to create a robot to navigate a maze and collect balloons. She tested robotic technologies in the Arctic and Antarctic.Between studies, she gained her pilot's license.Her first post-graduate job was at Ames Research Center as a research scientist.In 2006, Verma co-wrote PLEXIL, an open source programming language now used in automation technologies such as the NASA K10 rover, Mars Curiosity rover's percussion drill, the International Space Station, the Deep Space Habitat and Habitat Demonstration Unit, the Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks, LADEE, and Autonomy Operating System (AOS).In 2007 Verma joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with a special interest in robotics and flight software and became part of the Mars rover team in 2008. As of 2019, she leads JPL's Autonomous Systems, Mobility and Robotic Systems group.Verma has written academic papers in her field on subjects such as the AEGIS (Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science) targeting system, NASA Lunar rover operation and robot fault detection, an area she has worked consistently.Verma helped develop flight and flight simulation software systems used by the Mars 2020 rover.Verma frequently participates in JPL's open house events at the lab and online as a science communicator to encourage children (and particularly girls) into STEM careers.