Mirko Klukas, Ph.D.
based in Berlin, Germany
Cambridge
San Francisco
Vienna
Cologne
I always wanted to study art but became a mathematician. Contrary to common belief, it doesn't mean I simply like numbers. The beauty lies in-between, within their structure. Mathematics is about finding the right perspective and language to express a problem until the solution follows easily. It is a powerful way of thinking.
This led me to 10+ years of tackling deep technical problems from first principles across multiple disciplines — including research and engineering roles at MIT (Probabilistic Computing Group, Fiete Lab), Numenta, and IST Austria.
My focus can be broadly labeled as Spatial AI, spanning topics like (semantic) SLAM, inverse graphics, and spatial representations in general. My academic foundation however lies in pure mathematics, specifically in geometric and differential topology, with a particular emphasis on contact and symplectic topology. Believe me, it sounds more daunting than it truly is :) In fact, I miss it a lot.
Today, I'm building probabilistic spatial AI systems, combining perception, reasoning, and planning, to help machines understand complex environments the way humans do, while admitting when they are lost.
