About Travis Dierks

EDUCATION:
Ph.D., 2009 — Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST/UMR)
M.S., 2007 — Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST/UMR)
B.S., 2005 — Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST/UMR)

WORK EXPERIENCE:B
2018 – Present – Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Ivani, LLC
2009 – 2018 – Technical Leadership Roles, DRS (Subject Matter Expert Group; Technical Lead, Unmanned Systems; Principal Investigator, IR&D; Control Systems Lead; Government Proposal Technical Lead; Group Leader, Systems Engineering Organization Working Group)
Adjunct Assistant Professor – Missouri University of Science and Technology, Global Learning Center (Developed course: Autonomous Wheeled Mobile Robots; Member, Startup Technical Advisory Board)

Key Achievements:
1 Issued Patent; 1 Pending Patent
13 Refereed Journal Articles; 22 Refereed Conference Papers; 3 Book Chapters (2,500+ citations)
GAANN Fellow; Chancellor’s Fellow — Missouri S&T

Other:
Member, INCOSE (2009–present)
INCOSE Certified Systems Engineering Professional (2016–present)
Member, Missouri S&T ECE Industry Partnership Board (April 2025–present)
Member, IEEE (2005–2024)

Civic involvement includes serving as President of Big Country Acres HOA (2018–2022) and Lake Committee Member (2016–present), where he organized community events including a fishing derby and fish fry. He also volunteered as a youth sports coach (2019–2020), teaching basketball and baseball fundamentals.