Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu is a Fellow of the IEE (U.K.) and a Senior Member of the IEEE (USA). He was born in Accra, Ghana. He currently works on Mars Exploration Rover Operations Team of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States. Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu attended Garrison Primary School in Burma Camp and Ghana Secondary Technical School Takoradi for his O’ and A’ level). He had his Bachelors in Engineering (B.Eng.) in Avionics at Queen Mary College, University of London in 1991 where his dissertation was on Review of 4-D guidance techniques and the simulation of 4-D aircraft guidance.

He had his Ph.D. in Control Systems Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Royal Military College Science located at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom in 1996 with a thesis on Robust Non-linear Control Designs Using Adaptive Fuzzy Systems. Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu has also been a Research Scholar at the Institute for Complex Research Engineered, Carnegie Mellon University , where he helped develop a system of All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) for distributed tactical surveillance for (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) DARPA. As a kid, Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu was always fascinated with aircrafts (which are basically aerial robots), especially autopilots. He therefore read a lot of literature on the “Glass Cockpit” concept for both military and civil planes.

The basic idea behind the autopilot was to make machines, such as aircrafts, smarter so they can fly themselves; or make it easier for humans to operate them. He was also fascinated by robotic exploration of space. Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu says, though he has an office he actually spends most of his time in the robotics lab or flight testbed or in the field either developing new robotics technologies or testing technologies. The brilliant thing about my job is that, it is not a circumscribed routine, there are different challenges everyday says Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu. “Believe me it is a lot of fun. NASA is also a great organization that cares about is people and their personal development, need I say more?”Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu is a highly accomplished visionary Multidisciplinary Engineer with a broad background and extensive hands-on experience in Space Robotics Systems, Flight Systems Integration & Test, Planetary Rover Operations, System of Systems Design, Distributed Mobile Robotics, System Architectures, Dynamic Modeling, Control Systems design for Aerospace and Mechatronics Systems and Contract Technical Management.

He is a results-oriented, decisive leader with proven success in transitioning technology into flight, strategic thinking, and problem solving. Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu works effectively in a fast-paced environment and consistently prioritizes tasks and meets deadlines. He has excellent interpersonal skills, initiative, attention to detail, follow-through skills, with a reputation for dedication. Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu has won several awards which include: NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal (2008) “For exceptional technical contributions to the Mars Exploration Rovers, providing comprehensive engineering support pre- and post-launch, including resolutions of rover anomalies.”; Sir Monty Finniston Achievement Medal (2007) for outstanding technical contribution to any field of Engineering from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Europe’s largest professional society for engineers. “For outstanding technical contribution to the NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers mission.”; Outstanding Engineer Award (2007), from IEEE Region 6 (12 states of the Western USA.), for exceptional technical leadership and ingenuity in diagnosing the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity robotic arm anomaly culminating in a successful resolution of the anomaly leading to the continuing successful exploration of the surface of Mars in the extended mission.

Also for exceptional service to the IEEE as a Guest Editor in organizing and publishing a special issue of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine on Mars Exploration Rovers, June 2006; JPL Mariner Award from MER for outstanding leadership in the analysis and resolution of the IDD unstow anomaly on Opportunity rover, 2006 and many more. Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu has also won several teams awards which includes: NASA Group Achievement Award-Mars Exploration Rover Avionics Team, May 25th 2004, NASA Group Achievement Award-Mars Exploration Rover Flight System, Management and Engineering Team, May 25th 2004 and NASA Group Achievement Award-Mars Exploration Rover Project Operations Team, May 25th 2004 Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu research interests are Planetary Rovers, Adjustable Autonomy, Mechatronics, System of Systems, Manipulation, Planetary Rover Operations, Multiple Mobile Robots, Reconfigurable Robots and Man-machine Interaction. Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu has been involved in Flight Project and Research Tasks since 2003.

His involvements include 2003 – Mars Exploration Rover, 2007 – Phoenix Mars Lander and Mars Science Laboratory which is scheduled for launch in 2011 and will be NASA’s third generation of rover to explore Mars. Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu’s Activities and Interest are Lawn tennis, Table tennis, Football (soccer), Chess, American football, Athletics, and Test cricket.