Patrick Cooper
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Ph.D. Candidate |
Biography
Patrick Cooper is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, specializing in the application of learning-based methods to formal verification and control of autonomous systems. He currently serves as AI/ML Lead Architect and Supervisor at the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, where he leads national AI efforts, including the design of reinforcement learners for mission optimization and the development of large vision transformers for annotating marine life using Bayesian novelty detection and natural language generation. His previous roles include developing causal inference and policy learning systems for space simulations at Synaptech Inc., and designing embedded AI architectures for autonomous robotics and national security at Sandia National Laboratories. His research combines deep learning, generative modeling, and formal methods to support safe and interpretable autonomy.