Chris Gerdes

Mechanical engineer
An autonomous car may seem like a thing of the distant future, but mechanical engineer Chris Gerdes is racing to make it a reality today.

Why you should listen

Imagine a car that can drive itself -- that with the push of a button can get you home safely when you’re too tired to drive or have had a night of one too many drinks. Dr. Chris Gerdes , the Director of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (conveniently acronymed CARS), and his team are developing a robotic race car, capable of driving at outrageous speeds while avoiding every possible accident. Gerdes’ research focuses on the development of driver assistance systems for collision avoidance, as well as on new combustion processes for engines.

Prior to teaching at Stanford, Gerdes was the project leader for vehicle dynamics at the Vehicle Systems Technology Center of Daimler-Benz Research and Technology North America. His work at Daimler focused on safety analysis.

Chris Gerdes’ TED talk

More news and ideas from Chris Gerdes

Design

5 fascinating cars of the future

July 11, 2012

It’s 2012. And many of us no doubt imagined that flying cars would be all the rage by now. While that hasn’t happened yet, some major driving innovations are on their way down the pipeline. In a new TEDTalk, Chris Gerdes of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (awesomely abbreviated as CARS) explains that […]

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