Marco Chacin

Marco Chacin, Ph.D. is the Microprocessor Development Division Chief HW/SW System Architect at TOPS Systems Corporation and Teaching Fellow - Space Team Project (GSP-10) at Singularity University. Marco is a Member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and Computer Society. He was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He earned B.S. and M.Sc. degrees in Electronics Engineering and Control Engineering with a concentration in Robotics from Dr. Rafael Belloso Chacin University, Venezuela in 1999 and 2001 respectively. In 2001, he joined the Dr. Rafael Belloso Chacin University as Professor conducting and directing research as director the Robotics Research Laboratory. In 2003, Marco moved to Japan to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering (Space Robotics) at Tohoku University under the sponsorship of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology. His graduation thesis addressed the surface mobility/navigation planning of JAXA's next-generation rover for future asteroid sample return missions. He attended the IEEE-RAS/IFRR International School of Robotics Science: Robot Design (2005), the Space Generation Congress 2005 and the International Space University Summer Session Program (SSP06). Upon graduation, Marco joined the Toyota Motor Corporation to work on the system design and mobility research of the futuristic prototype car i-Unit, and in late 2007 he moved to Cyberdyne Inc. to work on the mass-production version of the robot suit HAL, a cyborg-type robot that can expand and improve human physical capabilities. In April 2010 he joined TOPS Systems as Chief HW/SW System Architect. Marco is fluent in Spanish (native), English, and Japanese.