A retired UF professor was presented with the National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama Wednesday, according to a White House press release.
Rudolf Kalman, a UF graduate research professor emeritus, developed a problem-solving procedure that was used during the Apollo missions to navigate and control the vehicles, said Pramod Khargonekar, former dean of the College of Engineering.
The procedure, an algorithm known as the Kalman Filter, also has applications in engineering and the social sciences, Khargonekar said.
He said in an e-mail that Kalman also laid the foundations of control theory, which relates to technologies such as anti-lock brakes and GPS.
"The impact of his work just keeps on growing with the passage of time," he said.
Khargonekar said he met Kalman in 1978 when he came to study under him as a Ph.D. student.
Kalman now works at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, according to the release.
