Nathaniel Mailhot

Biography

Nathaniel Mailhot was recently granted his PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Ottawa. He has worked on aircraft dynamics simulation, flight controller software, online reinforcement learning on resource-constrained hardware, and robotic systems design. A believer in advancing economic development through inventive entrepreneurship, he spent his graduate career immersed in work with high-tech R&D startups. This work spans diverse applied projects. Among the most notable are flight control designs for over 100-kg UAVs and steering lasers with MEMS mirrors for wireless power and data delivery to a prosthetic retinal implant. His private work as a robotics engineering manager led to the formation of a multinational drone-borne emissions-monitoring consortium funded by Eurogia and NRC IRAP and to his nomination to the official ArduPilot developer team. Presently, he serves as a program coordinator for the NSERC CREATE UTILI program, administered by Carleton University. Through direct engagement with industry and government stakeholders, this program aims to address critical skills gaps by training scientists and engineers in the effective use of uninhabited aircraft systems to serve Canadian society. In addition, he works with TandemLaunch as a project technologist, investing in and commercializing deep technologies developed at universities.