Artificial intelligence is moving rapidly into aerospace systems where failure is not an option, yet the dominant AI paradigms are opaque, brittle in the face of novel inputs, and resistant to the verification and validation practices that certification authorities require. This talk argues that certifiability must be a design requirement from the outset. Drawing on two decades of research in Genetic Fuzzy Systems, it presents AI whose decision logic is expressed in linguistic rules that engineers can read, bound, and formally analyze, while still learning from data and adapting to open-world conditions. Case studies span autonomous aerial systems, space robotics, and cybersecurity, illustrating how explainability, formal verification, and runtime assurance can coexist with performance.
Speaker Biography
Dr. Kelly Cohen is the Brian H. Rowe Endowed Chair in Aerospace Engineering and a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, where he directs the AI Bio Lab at UC Digital Futures. He earned his Ph.D. at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology on explainable fuzzy AI for aerospace applications. His research focuses on certifiable, explainable AI applied to aerospace autonomy, cybersecurity, and biomedical decision support. He serves as an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, chairs the IFSA Industrial Committee, is a Past President of NAFIPS, and formerly chaired the AIAA Intelligent Systems Technical Committee. He is the recipient of the 2026 King-Sun Fu Award for sustained contributions to the fuzzy systems field.
This seminar is available for in-person attendance at NASA Ames Research Center for staff and guests with a NASA badge or virtually via the online meeting information below.
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/276948935422316?p=pWGC7wN9cnSZ1ixHM4
Meeting ID: 276 948 935 422 316
Passcode: L96L3Xu3
About Air Time by NAMS-2
Air Time is a series of seminars on advanced aviation hosted by Crown Innovations, Inc. The seminars feature leading experts on cutting-edge research who share interesting ideas on pertinent topics and innovative methodologies. Air Time seminars will be held weekly at NASA Ames Research Center and online. A NASA badge is required to attend in person.
Crown Innovations, Inc. is the prime contractor for the NASA Academic Mission Services 2 (NAMS-2) contract. Contact the program management at nams2pmo@crownci.com for more information or to arrange a collaboration in your field.