BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:IEEE vTools.Events//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Denver BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:MDT END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:MST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260212T223744Z UID:8CAEF60A-0F69-4BB8-A422-5D9FE7F86078 DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20260305T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20260305T200000 DESCRIPTION:Annika Thomas is a Ph.D. candidate at MIT whose work lies at th e intersection of robotics\, computer vision\, and spatial intelligence. A fter beginning her academic path in Idaho at Renaissance High School and T he College of Idaho\, she went on to study mathematics\, physics\, and eng ineering through a dual-degree program at Columbia University\, then to MI T. Over the course of her studies\, she has contributed to astrophysics re search\, rocket propulsion\, and the design and deployment of satellites c urrently in orbit\, and she has worked in field robotics labs around the g lobe.\n\nHer current research focuses on developing photorealistic\, seman tically rich\, and shareable map representations for autonomous robots usi ng Gaussian Splatting and multi-modal sensor fusion. These structured worl d models enable multi-agent mapping\, loop closure\, and planetary-scale l ocalization. Applications range from terrestrial robotic perception to lun ar surface mapping for upcoming space missions with NASA.\n\nHer journey i llustrates how a STEM career can unfold from small-town beginnings to cutt ing-edge global research. Alongside her technical work\, she is committed to clear and accessible scientific communication\, which has led her to sh are ideas on collaborative robotics for lunar and Martian exploration thro ugh TEDx talks and international presentations across four continents. Ann ika ultimately aims to launch her own lab centered on intelligent mapping and embodied AI while contributing to a more inclusive culture for women i n STEM.\n\n[]\n\nThe talk is co-hosted by the following organizational uni ts in the IEEE Boise Section:\n\nIEEE Boise Communications Society/Robotic s & Automation Society/Signal Processing Joint Chapter\nIEEE Boise Compute r Society Chapter\nIEEE Boise Women In Engineering Affinity Group\nIEEE Bo ise Young Professional Affinity Group\nIEEE Boise State University Student Branch\n\nThis talk is free and open to the public. Registration is optio nal but helps us plan the headcount.\n\nRoom: MCMR 106\, Bldg: Micron Cent er for Materials Research (MCMR)\, Boise State University\, 1435 W Univers ity Dr\, Boise\, Idaho\, United States\, 83706 LOCATION:Room: MCMR 106\, Bldg: Micron Center for Materials Research (MCMR) \, Boise State University\, 1435 W University Dr\, Boise\, Idaho\, United States\, 83706 ORGANIZER:cgunning@ieee.org SEQUENCE:60 SUMMARY:From Idaho to the Moon: Building the Future of Intelligent Robotic Mapping URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/539020 X-ALT-DESC:Description:

Annika Thomas is a Ph.D. candida te at MIT whose work lies at the intersection of robotics\, computer visio n\, and spatial intelligence. After beginning her academic path in Idaho a t Renaissance High School and The College of Idaho\, she went on to study mathematics\, physics\, and engineering through a dual-degree program at C olumbia University\, then to MIT. Over the course of her studies\, she has contributed to astrophysics research\, rocket propulsion\, and the design and deployment of satellites currently in orbit\, and she has worked in f ield robotics labs around the globe.

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Her current researc h focuses on developing photorealistic\, semantically rich\, and shareable map representations for autonomous robots using Gaussian Splatting and mu lti-modal sensor fusion. These structured world models enable multi-agent mapping\, loop closure\, and planetary-scale localization. Applications ra nge from terrestrial robotic perception to lunar surface mapping for upcom ing space missions with NASA.

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Her journey illustrates ho w a STEM career can unfold from small-town beginnings to cutting-edge glob al research. Alongside her technical work\, she is committed to clear and accessible scientific communication\, which has led her to share ideas on collaborative robotics for lunar and Martian exploration through TEDx talk s and international presentations across four continents. Annika ultimatel y aims to launch her own lab centered on intelligent mapping and embodied AI while contributing to a more inclusive culture for women in STEM.

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The talk is co-hosted by the following organizational u nits in the IEEE Boise Section:

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IEEE Boise Communications Society/ Robotics &\; Automation Society/Signal Processing Joint Chapter
IEEE Boise Computer Society Chapter
IEEE Boise Women In Engineering Affinit y Group
IEEE Boise Young Professional Affinity Group
IEEE Boise Stat e University Student Branch

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This talk is free and open t o the public. Registration is optional but helps us plan the headcount.

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