MANTIS Faculty
M.S. Computer Science, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
Ph.D. Civil Engineering, University of Florida - Gainseville
michael Starek, ph.d. - director
Dr. Michael J. Starek is a Professor of Geospatial Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Chief Scientist, and Director of the Measurement Analytics (MANTIS) Lab with the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science. He also serves as the program coordinator for the Geospatial Computer Science doctoral program at TAMU-CC. 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, Starek has published over 60 publications in geospatially-centric areas including GIS, Geomatics, 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 Professor & Associate director
Dr. Tianxing Chu is an Assistant Professor of Geospatial Systems Engineering and Associate Director of MANTIS Lab 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 coastal-related decision-making efforts.