Dr. Don D. Haddad is a Research Engineer and Scientist specializing in Agentic AI, Lunar Imaging, and Simulated Environments.
Biography
Dr. Don D. Haddad is a Research Engineer and Scientist specializing in Agentic AI, lunar imaging, and simulated environments. He served as the Lead Research Engineer for the MIT and NASA Ames Lunar Imaging Payload onboard the MAPP Rover by Lunar Outpost, the first U.S. commercial Lunar Rover to land on the Moon (March 6, 2025, IM-2 Mission).
Don engineers AI-driven perception pipelines for data acquisition, 3D reconstruction, and spectral imaging to support lunar surface analysis. His work bridges computer graphics, machine learning, and human-robot interaction, with applications in space exploration and autonomous systems.
He holds a Ph.D. from MIT and has collaborated with NASA Ames, Lunar Outpost, Intuitive Machines, Rover Robotics, and Boston Dynamics.
Education
Ph.D., Doctor of Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology · 2018–2023
“New Paradigms in Blending Virtual and Physical Exploration through Human-Robot Operations.”
Prof. Joseph A. Paradiso · Prof. Dava J. Newman · Dr. Scott Greenwald
M.S., Media Arts & Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology · 2015–2018
“Resynthesizing Reality: Driving Vivid Virtual Environments from Sensor Networks.”
Prof. Joseph A. Paradiso · Prof. Ken Perlin · Prof. Glorianna Davenport
Research Areas
Research Institutions
- NASA Ames Research Center
- MIT Space Exploration Initiative
- MIT Media Lab
- MIT AeroAstro
Languages
English · Arabic · French
Work Experience
Selected Projects
A selection of projects that showcase my work in AI, Space Systems, Computer Graphics, Virtual Reality, Sensing Technologies, Wearable Computing, and Electronic Music Instruments Design.
Agentic Web Intelligence Platform
AI-Native Agent Traffic Analytics
Led the design and development of a production platform that detects, classifies, and analyzes autonomous agent traffic on the web. Architected agent readiness systems including perception tooling, MCP integration, and agent to agent web interactions.
Lunar Mission Control
Unreal Engine Interface for Rover Operations
Designed and built mission control software in Unreal Engine to communicate with the MIT/NASA RESOURCE Camera payload onboard of Lunar Outpost's MAPP rover. Developed a photorealistic lunar surface environment integrating rover operations, visualization, and interface workflows for remote mission support.
MIT/NASA RESOURCE Camera
Lunar Imaging Payload for the MAPP Rover
Lead Software Engineer and Research Scientist for a lunar imaging payload on the MAPP Lunar Rover (Lunar Outpost IM-2 mission). MAPP became the first U.S.-made commercial rover to touch down on the lunar surface on March 6, 2025.
Azure Kinect à La Luna (AKALL)
Dockerized Depth-Camera Framework for Space Robotics
A Dockerized system to operate a space-graded Microsoft Azure Kinect on the Moon. Deployed on the first U.S. made Lunar Rover by Lunar Outpost. Integrated with NVIDIA Omniverse for USD-based 3D upscaling.
ND3 Data Format
Lightweight Format for Real-Time 3D Reconstruction
Developed at NASA Ames Research Center. ND3 efficiently stores compressed 2D imaging data from Time-of-Flight sensors for real-time 3D reconstruction of microtopographic lunar terrain.
Responsive Space Environments
PhD Thesis — Blending Virtual and Physical Exploration
Doctoral research on new paradigms in blending virtual and physical exploration through human-robot operations. Systems for telepresence and mixed-reality in space exploration contexts.
Publications
37 peer-reviewed papers, theses, patents, and conference proceedings.
Don D. Haddad, Cody Paige, Ariel Ekblaw, Joseph A. Paradiso, Dava J. Newman, Amanda M. Cook, Ariel N. Deutsch, Jennifer Heldmann, Anthony Colaprete
IEEE Aerospace Conference (AeroConf)
Don D. Haddad, Ariel N. Deutsch, Anthony Colaprete, Amanda M. Cook, Cody Paige, Eyal Perry, Jennifer Heldmann
Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC)
Leonie Bensch, Cody Paige, Don D. Haddad, Fangzheng Liu, Nathan Perry, Gerrit Olivier, Joseph A. Paradiso
IEEE Pervasive Computing
Severin Meyer, Daniel V. Levine, Don D. Haddad, Irmandy Wicaksono, Joseph A. Paradiso
54th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES-2025-242)
Liu, F., Blanchard, L., Haddad, D. D., & Paradiso, J. A.
arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.18196
Fangzheng Liu, Lancelot Blanchard, Don D. Haddad, Joseph A. Paradiso
New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME)
Cook AM, Paige C, Haddad DD, Ekblaw A, Auffinger S, Heldmann J, Ward FS, Rademacher A, White B, Shimada J, Colaprete A
LPI Contributions, 3074, p.5007
Fangzheng Liu, Don Derek Haddad, Joseph A. Paradiso
UIST Adjunct '24
Don D. Haddad, Cody Paige, Ferrous Ward, Joseph A. Paradiso, Dava Newman, Ariel Ekblaw, Amanda Cook, Jennifer Heldmann
IEEE Aerospace Conference
Irmandy Wicaksono, Aditi Maheshwari, Don D. Haddad, Joseph A. Paradiso, Andreea Danielescu
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies
Don D. Haddad
MAS PhD Thesis — MIT Media Lab
Don D. Haddad, Stefan Unterhauser, Cody A. Paige, Ben Brokaw, Ferrous S. Ward, Joseph A. Paradiso, J. Heldmann, Dava J. Newman
Conference on Human-Computer Interaction for Space Exploration (SpaceCHI 3.0)
Cody A. Paige, Don D. Haddad, Ferrous S. Ward, Trent J. Piercy, Jessica E. Todd, Joseph A. Paradiso, Dava J. Newman
Conference on Human-Computer Interaction for Space Exploration (SpaceCHI 3.0)
Ferrous S. Ward, Cody A. Paige, Don D. Haddad, Jessica E. Todd, Jennifer Heldmann, Darlene Lim, Ariel Ekblaw, Dava Newman
International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
Cody A. Paige, Don Derek Haddad, Ferrous Ward, Jessica Todd, Ariel Ekblaw, Dava Newman
International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
Ekblaw, A., Cherston, J., Liu, F.Z., Wicaksono, I., Haddad, D.D, Sumini, V., Paradiso, J.A
IEEE Pervasive Computing — Best Paper of the Year
C. Paige, F. Ward, D. D. Haddad, J. MacNeil, P. McGaffigan, A. Ekblaw, D. Newman
Acta Astronautica
Wicaksono, I., Haddad, D. D., & Paradiso, J.
Creativity and Cognition (pp. 262-274)
Forsey-Smerek, A., Paige, C., Ward, F., Haddad, D. D., Sanneman, L., Todd, J., Heldmann, J., Lim, D., Newman, D.
IEEE Aerospace Conference (AERO)
Paige, C.A., Forsey-Smerek, A., Haddad, D.D., Ward, F., Piercy, T., Heldmann, J., Lim, D., Colaprete, A., Cook, A., Newman, D.
ASCEND 2021
Paige, C., Ward, F., Haddad, D.D., Forsey-Smerek, A., Sanneman, L.M., Todd, J., Colaprete, A., Lim, D.S.S., Heldmann, J., Newman, D.
AGU Fall Meeting
Cody A. Paige, Dava Newman, Don Derek Haddad, Ferrous Ward, Trent Piercy
50th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES-2021-227)
Fei Jiang, Don D. Haddad, Joseph A. Paradiso
HCI International (HCII)
Joao Wilbert*, Don D. Haddad*, Hiroshi Ishii, Joseph A. Paradiso
New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME)
Ou, J.*, Oran, D.*, Haddad, D.D.*, Paradiso, J.A., Ishii, H.
3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, Vol. 6 Issue 1 — Cover Issue
Don Derek Haddad, Joseph A. Paradiso
New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME)
Gabriela Bila Advincula, Don Derek Haddad, Kent Larson
New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME)
Don Derek Haddad
MAS Thesis — MIT Media Lab
Don Derek Haddad, Joseph A. Paradiso
New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME)
Don Derek Haddad, Xiao Xiao, Tod Machover, Joseph A. Paradiso
New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) — Best Presentation Award
Don Derek Haddad, Gershon Dublon, Brian Mayton, Spencer Russell, Xiao Xiao, Ken Perlin, Joseph A. Paradiso
SIGGRAPH 2017
Brian Mayton, Gershon Dublon, Spencer Russell, Evan F. Lynch, Don Derek Haddad, Vasant Ramasubramanian, Clement Duhart, Glorianna Davenport, Joseph A. Paradiso
Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 26(2), MIT Press
Gershon Dublon, Brian Mayton, Don Derek Haddad, Clement Duhart, Spencer Russell, Glorianna Davenport, Joseph A. Paradiso
Society of Wetland Scientists
Xiao Xiao, Don Derek Haddad, Thomas Sanchez, Akito van Troyer, Rébecca Kleinberger, Penny Webb, Joe Paradiso, Tod Machover, Hiroshi Ishii
New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME)
Aubrey Colter, Don Derek Haddad, Patlapa Davivongsa, Halla Moore, Brian Tice, Hiroshi Ishii
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) — Best Paper, Honorable Mention
Basheer Tome, Don Derek Haddad, Tod Machover, Joseph A. Paradiso
New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME)
Jifei Ou, Daniel Oran, Don D. Haddad
A sensor may include a knitted pocket and loose yarn that is inside a cavity of the pocket. A resistive pressure sensor may include a knitted pocket and loose conductive yarn, where pressure compresses the loose yarn, increasing electrical shorts and decreasing resistance.
Filed September 16, 2019
Awards
Selected awards and press recognition.
IEEE Pervasive Computing Article Cover
Vol. 24, Issue 4Defining a new cross reality, with Prof. Joseph A. Paradiso and the Responsive Environments Group of the MIT Media Lab.
We Are Going to the Moon — Recap
Dell Technologies World 2025Featured in the Dell Technologies World 2025 recap on Lunar exploration and the MIT Lunar Mission, Las Vegas, NV.
MIT Send Three Payloads to the Moon
MIT NewsData from the devices will help future astronauts navigate the moon's south polar region and search for frozen water.
Lunar Mission Control
InplorationThe Lunar Mission Control installation — a collaboration between MIT Space Exploration Initiative and Inploration presenting live lunar operations and interactive projections to the public, Cambridge, MA.
IM-2 Payload Operators
SpaceNewsQuoted on the RESOURCE camera's achievements aboard IM-2, including developing a novel data compression scheme for 3D mapping of lunar regolith and spectral analysis of the lunar surface.
Arctic Space Analog in Svalbard
MIT Media LabFeatured in the MIT Media Lab's writeup on the first Arctic Space Analog expedition in Svalbard, where the RESOURCE project team tested depth camera and rover technology for remote planetary exploration.
IEEE Best Paper of the Year
IEEE Pervasive ComputingFrom UbiComp to Universe — Moving Pervasive Computing Research Into Space Applications, Prof. Joseph A. Paradiso et al.
SXSW Innovation Award
South by SouthwestTapis Magique: Interactive Textile Sensor System, collaboration with Irmandy Wicaksono and Nina Gentile, Austin, TX.
MIT Will Return to the Moon
ForbesMIT Will Return to the Moon for the First Time Since Apollo powered by Lunar Outpost's space startup and MIT payload research.
MIDI Innovation Award
International MIDI AssociationTapis Magique: A Choreo-musical Interactive Carpet, featured in the 2022 NAMM Show, collaboration with Irmandy Wicaksono.
Envisioning a New Space Age
MIT Media LabFeatured in the MIT Media Lab's coverage of Virtual Beyond the Cradle 2021, presenting research on virtual environments.
Rhode Island International Film Festival
Semi-Finalist - RIIFFSynthetic:Sync — Experimental film scoring for Synthetic:Sync film, premiered at the MIT Media Lab and directed by Dante Latessa.
Best Presentation Award
NIME 2017Fragile Instruments: Destructible Musical Interfaces presented, ACM SIGCHI, NIME 2017, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Best Paper Award — Honorable Mention
CHI 2016Best presentation with an honorable mention for SoundFORMS: Manipulating Sound Through Touch, ACM SIGCHI, CHI 2016, San Jose, CA.
Smart Raspberry Pi Television
HackadayFeatured on Hackaday for rPiTV — an open source smart television built on Raspberry Pi using Chromium, and Node.js.