MANTIS Faculty
M.S. Computer Science, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Ph.D. Civil Engineering, University of Florida
michael J. Starek, ph.d.
Director
Dr. Michael J. Starek is a Professor of Geospatial Systems Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He also serves as the program coordinator for the Geospatial and Computer Science doctoral program and as Chair for Remote Sensing and Autonomous Systems for Geomatics at the Conrad Blucher Institute of Surveying and Science. Starek holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida and was formerly a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow of the U.S. Army Research Office in affiliation with North Carolina State University. His research focuses on the merging of geomatics, remote sensing, and geospatial computing for precise measurement and analysis of natural and built systems. As author or co-author, he has published over 80 research studies in geospatially-centric areas including GIS, Geomatics, Photogrammetry and Lidar, UAS & Autonomous Mapping, and Geospatial AI.
B.Eng. Geomatics, Wuhan University, China
Ph.D. Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Peking University, China
Tianxing Chu, ph.d.
Assistant Director
Dr. Tianxing Chu is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science department at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He earned a B. Eng. in Geomatics from Wuhan University and a Ph.D. in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing from Peking University in China. He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate and then Assistant Research Scientist at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He is a geospatial scientist who focuses on emerging Remote Sensing and Autonomous Mapping/Sensing technology for modeling our living environment. His current research interests include ubiquitous navigation and positioning on mobile platforms (e.g., Signal of Opportunity and MEMS sensors), indoor simultaneous localization and mapping, and Geospatial AI applications for subsidence assessment and other coastal-related decision-making efforts.