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Mary "Missy" Cummings

Cummings

Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Mary "Missy" Cummings received her B.S. in Mathematics from the US Naval Academy in 1988, her M.S. in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994, and her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2004.
A naval officer and military pilot from 1988-1999, she was one of the Navy's first female fighter pilots.
Cummings is currently a Professor in the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering, the Duke Institute of Brain Sciences, and is the director of the Humans and Autonomy Laboratory and Duke Robotics. Her research interests include human-unmanned vehicle interaction, human-autonomous system collaboration, human-systems engineering, public policy implications of unmanned vehicles, and the ethical and social impact of technology.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
  • Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society

Contact Information

  • Office Location: 131 North Building, Box 103957, Durham, NC 27708
  • Office Phone: (919) 660-5306
  • Email Address: m.cummings@duke.edu
  • Websites:

Education

  • Ph.D. University of Virginia, 2004

Research Interests

Human-unmanned vehicle interaction, human-autonomous system collaboration, human-systems engineering, public policy implications of unmanned vehicles, and the ethical and social impact of technology.

Courses Taught

  • COMPSCI 391: Independent Study
  • COMPSCI 394: Research Independent Study
  • COMPSCI 590: Advanced Topics in Computer Science
  • ECE 291: Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • ECE 383: Introduction to Robotics and Automation
  • ECE 392: Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • ECE 493: Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • ECE 494: Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • ECE 590: Advanced Topics in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • ECE 891: Internship
  • EGR 393: Research Projects in Engineering
  • ME 392: Undergraduate Projects in Mechanical Engineering
  • ME 442: Introduction to Robotics and Automation
  • ME 491: Special Projects in Mechanical Engineering
  • ME 555: Advanced Topics in Mechanical Engineering
  • ME 591: Research Independent Study in Mechanical Engineering or Material Science
  • ME 592: Research Independent Study in Mechanical Engineering or Material Science

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Mandal, S; Chen, L; Alaparthy, V; Cummings, M, Acoustic detection of drones through real-time audio attribute prediction, Aiaa Scitech 2020 Forum, vol 1 PartF (2020), pp. 1-13 [10.2514/6.2020-0491] [abs].
  • Cummings, M; Huang, L; Zhu, H; Finkelstein, D; Wei, R, The Impact of Increasing Autonomy on Training Requirements in a UAV Supervisory Control Task, Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, vol 13 no. 4 (2019), pp. 295-309 [10.1177/1555343419868917] [abs].
  • Cummings, ML; Nehme, CE, Modeling the impact of workload in Network Centric supervisory control settings (2018), pp. 23-39 [abs].
  • Cummings, ML; Quimby, PW, The power of collective intelligence in a signal detection task, Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, vol 19 no. 3 (2018), pp. 375-388 [10.1080/1463922X.2017.1381776] [abs].
  • Cummings, M, Informing Autonomous System Design Through the Lens of Skill-, Rule-, and Knowledge-Based Behaviors, Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, vol 12 no. 1 (2018), pp. 58-61 [10.1177/1555343417736461] [abs].