Thomas Sears

Postdoctoral Fellow

he/him, BEng, MASc, PhD, PEng

Ingenuity Labs Research Institute

Smith Engineering

Mitchell Hall, Room 245

Thomas Sears is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ingenuity Labs Research Institute under the supervision of Prof. Joshua Marshall.

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ORCiD

Thomas Sears was born in Toronto (Ontario, Canada) and raised in Kent (England), Jersey (Channel Islands), and Barbados (Caribbean). He is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ingenuity Labs Research Institute at Queen’s University, in Kingston, Canada under the supervision of Prof. Joshua Marshall. Thomas's research focuses on the development of field robotics for environmental understanding and remediation, and his interests more broadly include the application of robotics for community benefit. In all projects, Thomas aims to work with industry, non-profit, and governmental partners to target and apply research for the benefit of the community.

Thomas completed his doctoral degree in electrical and computer engineering with a focus on spatiotemporal sampling and mapping, at Queen's University with Prof. Joshua Marshall and the Offroad Robotics research group in 2026. He is a former Vanier Scholar. Thomas's thesis focused on spatiotemporal environmental sampling and modelling with mobile robots, which included field testing with the Otter USV (uncrewed surface vessel). Thomas additionally supported undergraduate and graduate research on control and localization with a variety of robot platforms. Thomas previously studied Aerospace Engineering at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (M.A.Sc.) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Carleton University (B.Eng.) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. As a member of the Space Flight Laboratory, his research on materials and mechanisms for spacecraft de-orbiting technology was critical to the demonstrated success of the CanX-7 nanosatellite mission.

Prior to joining the Offroad Robotics group, Thomas was an Engineer at Sinclair Interplanetary (now Rocket Lab) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In this role, he developed, built, and tested spacecraft hardware, and built and delivered over 100 devices that have gone from low Earth orbit to the Moon.

In addition to his research, Thomas works as a consultant in the Canadian space sector, mentors students looking to get involved in the aerospace sector, and supports the Queen’s Space Engineering Team CubeSat project. Thomas is a licensed Professional Engineer in the province of Ontario.

Refereed Conference Papers

E. Taylor, T. M. C. Sears, and J. A. Marshall. Experiments in decentralized multivehicle localization using ultra-wideband transceivers. To appear in Proceedings of the 2024 IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical & Computer Engineering (CCECE), Kingston, Canada, August 2024.

T. M. C. Sears, M. R. Cooper, and J. A. Marshall. Mapping waves with an uncrewed surface vessel via Gaussian process regression. In Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), London, UK, May-June 2023. [Open Access: QSpace. Presentation video: YouTube.]

T. M. C. Sears and J. A. Marshall. Mapping of spatiotemporal scalar fields by mobile robots using Gaussian process regression. In Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Kyoto, Japan, October 2022. [Open Access: QSpace. Presentation video: YouTube.]

Refereed Workshop Papers

T. M. C. Sears, M. R. Cooper, S. Button, and J. A. Marshall. OtterROS: Picking and programming an uncrewed surface vessel for experimental field robotics research with ROS 2. In Proceedings of the Workshop on Field Robotics at the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Yokohama, Japan, April 4, 2024. [arXiv:2404.05627. OtterROS code: GitHub]

Abstract Refereed Conference Papers

C. C. Grant, T. M. C. Sears, J. Gibson, N. Kerr, and D. Sinclair. Quantity and Quality: Scaling Small Business for Large Constellations. Proceedings of the AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, Logan, Utah, August 2019.

D. Sinclair, J. Enright, T. Dzamba, and T. M. C. Sears. Custom Optics vs Modified COTS for Small Spacecraft: The Build vs. Rebuild Decision. Proceedings of the AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, Logan, Utah, August 2015.

T. M. C. Sears, J. Newman, B. Cotten, J. Fine, J. Chung, H. Spencer, K. A. Carroll, and R. E. Zee. Proposed Design of a Microspace Mission for Near-Earth Asteroid Mining Survey and Tracking. Proceedings of the 65th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Toronto, Canada, September 2014.

B. Cotten, T. M. C. Sears, J. Hiemstra, J. Chung, G. Bonin, and R. E. Zee. The CanX-7 Mission: Demonstrating Deorbit Technology for Micro and Nanosatellites. Proceedings of the 65th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Toronto, Canada, September 2014.

T. M. C. Sears and R. E. Zee. Sail Material, Inspection Imager, and Deployment Analysis for an End-Of-Life Disposal Drag Sail. Proceedings of the AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, Logan, Utah, August 2014.

T. M. C. Sears, B. Cotten, and R. E. Zee. Performance Analysis of Thin Film Materials in a Drag Sail Deorbiting Device. Proceedings of the Small Satellite Systems and Services Symposium (4S), Majorca, Spain, May 2014.

B. Cotten, T. M. C. Sears, and R. E. Zee. The CanX-7 Nanosatellite Deorbit Mission: Demonstrating Sustainable Use of Low-Earth Orbit. Proceedings of the Small Satellite Systems and Services Symposium (4S), Majorca, Spain, May 2014.

G. Bonin, J. Hiemstra, T. M. C. Sears, and R. E. Zee. The CanX-7 Drag Sail Demonstration Mission: Enabling Environmental Stewardship for Nano- and Microsatellites. Proceedings of the AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, Logan, Utah, August 2013.

Technical Reports

T. M. C. Sears, F. Sorensen, and D. Backman. Uncertainty Determination and Evaluation of a 2-D Digital Image Correlation System. National Research Council (NRC) Canada, Institute for Aerospace Research (IAR), Structures and Materials Performance Laboratory (SMPL), Ottawa, 2012.

Supporting Contributions

T. Chan, D. Backman, R. Bos, T. M. C. Sears, I. Brooks, and U. Erb. Temperature Changes during Deformation of Polycrystalline and Nanocrystalline Nickel. Advanced Materials Research, 409, 480–485. 2012.

D. Backman, T. M. C. Sears, and E. A. Patterson. Development of a new fiber metal laminate variant optimized for cold expansion and riveting of holes. Proceedings of the 26th Symposium of the International Committee on Aeronautical Fatigue, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2011.

D. Backman, G. Li, and T. M. C. Sears. Determining the Strain Distribution in Bonded and Bolted/Bonded Composite Butt Joints Using the Digital Image Correlation Technique and Finite Element Methods. In Optical Measurements, Modeling, and Metrology, Volume 5, New York, New York, 2011.

Academic Theses

T. M. C. Sears. Spectral Analysis for Robotic Spatiotemporal Mappling. Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Queen's University in Kingston, ON. September 2026. Supervised by Prof. Joshua A. Marshall.

T. M. C. Sears. Sail, Deployment, and Imaging Technology for a Nanosatellite Deorbit System Demonstration on CanX-7. M.A.Sc. Thesis, Space Flight Laboratory, Institute for Aerospace Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. November 2014. Supervised by Dr. Robert E. Zee.

T. M. C. Sears. Satellite Attitude Determination with a Multiplicative Extended Kalman Filter. B.Eng. Thesis, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON. May 2012. Supervised by Prof. Anton de Ruiter.

Thomas is a member of the Offroad Robotics research group and Ingenuity Labs Research Institute. His research interests span robotics, sustainability, and space exploration.

Technical Expertise and Interests

Environmental and remediation robotics
Spatiotemporal mapping
Adaptive navigation and control
State estimation
Planetary robotics and spacecraft systems
Land and water robotics

Current Teaching Activities

Thomas is not teaching any courses in 2026.

Design Team Advising

Current advisor for Queen's Space Engineering Team (QSET) Satellite design project (2019-present).

Previous Teaching Activities

c/o Ingenuity Labs, Mitchell Hall
69 Union Street
Queen’s University
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Canada

E-mail: thomas.sears@queensu.ca