Michael Schmid’s distinct approach to solving real-world artificial intelligence applications is changing the way enterprises adopt Artificial Intelligence. As a PhD Candidate in the Department of Aeronautics Astronautics at MIT, Michael’s cutting-edge research focuses on solving the impeding problems that arise with automation in highly-complex systems.

Automation is becoming increasingly prominent in our everyday lives — from cars and aircraft to applications in our private households. As the number of applications increase, so does the severity of emerging risk – including human lives, business profits, and company reputations. In today’s competitive market, companies need to protect themselves from these obstacles for long-term survival. With point-solutions and ineffective design approaches, enterprises face a safety dilemma that only a truly holistic protection approach can resolve. Michael’s mission is to make a positive difference in the world and drive innovation that improves human life.

Michael has successfully led automation projects with Ford on self-driving software and is currently helping NASA implement AI in urban air transportation. Previously, he has developed a certification approach for automated vehicles, won awards for his work on aircraft systems at Airbus, led multi-million dollar projects at the United Technologies Corporation (now Raytheon Technologies), and has designed future flight-control systems for the German Aerospace Center (DLR). He has provided analysis examples for the international standard ISO 21448: Safety of the Intended Functionality (SOTIF) and contributed to the OMG standard Risk Analysis and Assessment Modeling Language. Michael has been awarded competitive scholarships from the Fulbright Program and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (less than 0.5% of German students are awarded this scholarship). He also has a Masters degree from MIT (4.9/5.0 GPA).