Nathaniel Hanson, Ph.D., ’19

Major: Computer Engineering

Creating technologies to improve environmental disaster response and public safety

At the intersection of robotics and public service, Nathaniel Hanson, Ph.D., ’19 is pioneering advanced sensing technologies, empowering first responders and redefining how innovation supports disaster response and humanitarian relief. Through his research and leadership, Hanson is committed to ensuring that breakthroughs in robotics have a meaningful impact on communities worldwide.

Currently, Hanson is a member of the technical staff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory in the Human Resilience Technology Group, serving as a researcher and adviser to the U.S. government on applying technology to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. At MIT, his contributions range from decision-support tools for hurricane evacuation planning to Bluetooth-based contact tracing during pandemics. He now leads applied innovation projects, including search-and-rescue robots capable of navigating collapsed buildings and machine-learning-enabled tools for assessing traumatic injuries in the field. He has also worked with the MIT Media Lab to make artificial intelligence education more accessible to non-technical audiences. Hanson holds multiple patent applications, publications in refereed journals, and presentations at leading conferences around the world.

In addition to his research, Hanson organizes academic conferences and workshops through IEEE Robotics and Automation Society to advance robotic technologies in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. He is committed to transitioning technology from the lab into the hands of first responders who will benefit from it, and open-sourcing it whenever possible. A dedicated mentor, he guides undergraduate and graduate students to grow into independent researchers and supports military personnel through the Department of the Air Force-MIT AI Accelerator, helping them ethically employ AI to address pressing national defense challenges.

Hanson earned his B.S. in computer science from the University of Notre Dame, M.S. in computer science from Boston University, and his Ph.D. in computer engineering from Northeastern University. He met his wife, Stephanie ’19, on the first day of class during their first year at Notre Dame. They married in 2020 and have navigated married life as Stephanie serves on active duty in the U.S. Air Force.