As a professor of mechanical engineering, my focus is in advancing and teaching methods for physical system modeling, simulation, and estimation and control. My research relies on practical applications to motivate how principles and methods in these areas need to be improved, particularly in using modeling and simulation in design of new, innovative systems and devices. Over the years, my students, collaborators, and I have worked on a wide range of problems and applications, many of which are detailed on the RESEARCH page. My current focus is on research and development of smart hand tools that can take advantage of embedded sensing, actuation, machine learning, and edge AI.
I began commuting by bicycle in about 2007. My preference is to avoid driving to campus, despite my strong affinity for ground vehicle systems, the dynamics and control of which I have enjoyed teaching and researching since 1998.
I was born and raised in Mission, Texas, in the 1960s-70s, a time when it was still a small town in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Longorias settled in that region of Texas in the 1700s. I consider myself a descendent of those that settled north of the Rio Grande in Ojo de Agua (just outside of Mission) and who are part of the Reynosa branch of Longorias. (if link is gone, read this article).
My wife, Monica, and I raised two daughters in Austin, being fortunate to make our home here since we both arrived in the early 1980s to study at UT-Austin.