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Title: The Power of Contraction in Control, Learning, and Beyond: Toward Trustworthy Aerospace and Robotic Autonomy Abstract: Contraction theory provides an analytical tool for studying differential dynamics of nonlinear systems under a contraction metric, the existence of which results in a necessary and sufficient characterization of the incremental exponential stability of multiple solution trajectories with respect to each other. More intuitively, it defines a systematic way to measure the distance of the systems' current performance to their ideal, exponentially decreasing in time. It is increasingly recognized that the concept of contraction is fundamental in driving systems to their ideal counterparts both in physics-informed and data-driven systems. This talk gives a brief mathematical overview of contraction theory, with some recent efforts in generalizing the ideas to broader problem settings. Its practical impact is demonstrated through applications in several joint projects with NASA-JPL. Bio: Hiroyasu Tsukamoto is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the director of the ACXIS Laboratory (Autonomous Control, Exploration, Intelligence, and Systems). Prior to joining Illinois, he was a Postdoctoral Research Affiliate in Robotics at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he contributed to the Science-Infused Spacecraft Autonomy for Interstellar Object Exploration and Multi-Spacecraft Autonomy Technology Demonstration projects. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Space Engineering (Autonomous Robotics and Control) from Caltech in 2018 and 2023, respectively, and his B.S. degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Kyoto University, Japan, in 2017. He is the recipient of several awards, including the William F. Ballhaus Prize for the Best Doctoral Dissertation in Space Engineering at Caltech and the Innovators Under 35 Japan Award from MIT Technology Review. More info: https://hirotsukamoto.com