2026 Keynote

ISMCR 206

27th International Symposium on Measurement and Control in Robotics is an IMEKO TC17 Event.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, September 17-18, 2026

 

Confirmed Keynote Speakers for ISMCR 2026

Dr Ivair Gontijo (USA/Brazil)

Brazilian senior scientist retired from NASA – JPL responsible for robotic systems in Mars missions

Ivair Gontijo is a Brazilian senior scientist retired from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - JPL, with a distinguished career in robotic space exploration, autonomous systems, and mission-critical engineering. He is widely recognized for his leadership and technical responsibility in the development of the radar that landed the Curiosity rover on Mars. On the Mars2020 mission he worked with seven institutions in France, a university in Spain and the Los Alamos National Labs in New Mexico to develop, test and integrate the remote sensing SuperCam instrument. For the past five years SuperCam is used almost daily to study rocks on Mars, so that samples containing Martian organics can be collected for a future mission to bring them back to Earth for further studies.

Dr. Gontijo has played a strategic role in Mars rover missions, contributing not only to technical development but also to system-level engineering decisions that ensure the safe and reliable operation of robotic systems millions of kilometers from Earth. These experiences place him at the forefront of applying robotics beyond laboratory conditions, where measurement accuracy, autonomy, and system resilience are critical for mission success.

In addition to his work at NASA, Dr. Gontijo has actively contributed to the dissemination of knowledge through international conferences, invited talks, and collaborations with academia and industry. His Portuguese language book “A Caminho de Marte”, translated to English as “The Road to Mars”, won the prestigious book of the year Jabuti prize in Brazil, in 2019. His career exemplifies the bridge between scientific research, engineering rigor, and real-world robotic applications.

 

George Salazar (USA)
Retired NASA Research Scientist and Engineer

Mr. George Salazar is a retired NASA engineer with over 40 years of experience in telemetry, communications, speech control, command and data handling, audio, displays and controls, intelligent lighting, project management, and systems engineering. During his time at NASA, he has received various patents and awards, including the NASA Silver Achievement Medal, the John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award, and the NASA Johnson Space Center Engineering Directorate Legacy Award for his contributions to human spaceflight. He has also co-authored several technical papers on spacecraft design, systems engineering, and Human Systems Integration. He is the recipient of the Great Minds in STEM Lifetime Achievement Award. Although it was never part of his NASA performance appraisal requirements, he has reached out to more than 19,000 students in various ways, from conducting science experiments to inspire elementary students to speaking about the importance of staying in school and supporting engineering students on projects. He served in numerous roles, including design engineer, project manager, systems engineer, and, in his last years at NASA, as the NASA Human-Computer Interface Technical Lead. Mr. Salazar received his Associate of Applied Science in Electronic Technology from what was then Harris County College (now Lone Star College), his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston, and his Master of Science in Systems Engineering from Southern Methodist University. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas, holds an Expert Systems Engineer Professional certification from the International Council on Systems Engineering, and is a Life Senior IEEE member.

In his keynote at ISMCR 2026, Mr. George Salazar will bring a system-level perspective shaped by decades of aerospace research and operational experience, highlighting lessons learned from mission-critical environments and their relevance to contemporary challenges in robotics, automation, control, and measurement-driven systems.

 

Dr Waldemar de Castro Leite Filho (Brazil)

Brazilian aerospace scientist and leading expert in guidance, navigation and control systems for mission-critical platforms

Waldemar de Castro Leite Filho holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and is a retired Senior Researcher of the Brazilian Air Force Institute of Aeronautics and Space (IAE). His academic and professional career spans more than four decades, with a strong focus on aerospace guidance, navigation and control, inertial systems, adaptive control, and real-time simulation of complex dynamical systems.

He played a central role in the development of Brazil’s satellite launcher and sounding rocket programs, serving for many years as Head of the Guidance and Control Division of the IAE. His work includes the design and validation of attitude control systems, inertial navigation platforms, hardware-in-the-loop simulation frameworks, and real-time onboard control architectures for launch vehicles and aerospace systems.

Dr. Leite Filho has an extensive scientific output, with dozens of journal papers and more than one hundred conference publications, as well as books and book chapters published by major international publishers. He has supervised numerous MSc and PhD theses in aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, and control systems, and has actively contributed to the formation of several generations of researchers in these fields.

He has held editorial and reviewer roles for leading international journals, including IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, Measurement, Sensors, and aerospace control journals, and has served on scientific committees and funding agencies. His contributions have been formally recognized with the Santos Dumont Merit Medal, awarded by the Brazilian Ministry of Aeronautics.

Currently, he is Director of Castro Leite Consultoria, a strategic defense and aerospace consultancy, where he continues to work on advanced guidance, navigation, control, and inertial systems, bridging academic research with high-reliability engineering applications.

In his keynote at ISMCR 2026, Dr. Leite Filho will address the evolution and future challenges of guidance, navigation and control systems in aerospace and robotic platforms, emphasizing robustness, reliability, sensor integration, and the role of advanced modeling and simulation in mission-critical autonomous systems

Address: contato@castroleite.com

 

Dr Marco Antonio Meggiolaro (Brazil)

Brazilian mechanical engineering scientist and internationally recognized researcher in robotic

Marco Antonio Meggiolaro holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is an Associate Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), where he currently serves as Undergraduate Program Coordinator in Mechanical Engineering. He has a prolific scientific output, with more than 400 publications indexed in Google Scholar and over 4,100 citations (h-index 30; i10-index 79), reflecting the wide adoption and influence of his work. His robotics research spans mobile robotics and autonomous systems, with emphasis on perception and state estimation in complex environments, motion planning and control, and AI-enabled locomotion. In particular, his work addresses robust navigation and locomotion over challenging terrain, connecting learning-based strategies with model-based methods for real-world deployment, including wheeled-legged and quadruped robots for inspection and maintenance.

In his keynote at ISMCR 2026, Dr. Meggiolaro will discuss fatigue, fracture, and structural integrity challenges in advanced engineered systems, highlighting their implications for robotics, automation, and measurement-driven design.

Address: meggi@puc-rio.br

 

Additional keynote speakers are currently being confirmed and will be announced soon.