(Apple user since 1981)

Gregory P. Starr Professor of Mechanical Engineering (now RETIRED) The University of New Mexico NOTE: Since retirement (6/30/2012) I don't really maintain these pages much...but there's still some pretty interesting stuff here, if I do say so myself. Sorry for some broken links, but hey... I'm retired. AND...my Digital Control book just got PUBLISHED!
	This picture shows Dr. Greg's beautiful new 2016 BMW R1200GSA at the Valle Grande, in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico.. Couldn't resist the GSA; longer range for those western wide-open spaces.... Intelligence: learning from your mistakes... Wisdom: learning from other people's mistakes...

Education

• B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, 1969
  • 2nd biggest university robotics program in the world!
  • 2005 NCAA Football Division I-A National Champs!! (yeah, I know...losers in 2006, and on hard times now.) But Matt Barkley's comin' back in 2012, so look out!
  • Little-known fact: O.J. Simpson (same class as I) was briefly a world-record holder in 1967 when the USC 440-yard relay team ran a 38.6 (O.J. ran the third leg...he ran track to stay in shape for football)
• M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 1970.
  • 1970-71 Rose Bowl winners w/Jim Plunkett at QB
  • Perennial winners of the Director's Cup (what's that?)
  • Little-known fact: Stanford students were/are rich-kid conservatives at heart; tried (but failed) to be activists like Berkeley students. Also, the "radical-ness" of a campus is directly proportional to the number of free-roaming dogs.
• Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 1978.
  • Dissertation title: A Comparison of Control Modes in Time-Delayed Remote Manipulation
  • Adviser: Bernard Roth
  • Little-known fact: Bernie Roth is a super-nice guy; I "lucked out" by being picked up by Bernie after I finished my coursework, and hence didn't take the dreadful Bernie-mandated course on "Mathematical Methods in Physics"...

Class Information for Spring 2012

The classes I'm teaching during Spring 2012 are ME 380 (Control Systems), and ME 481/581 (Digital Control).

The links below will lead to pages with information for those classes...

• ME 380 - Control Systems

• ME 581 - Digital Control

I will update these pages with more information as the semester progresses.

Interests and Activities

8/12/2015 update: Seems like since retirement my main "interest and activity" is riding (and wrenching) on motorcycles...so I'll list a few more of my Ride Reports (blogs) from recent trips. Most recent first...actually the first link is my motorcycle comparison. Then the Ride Reports...

• A Motorcycle Comparison between the 2013 BMW R1200GSW (watercooled; my current bike) and the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200S (my former bike). Although these bikes have slightly different niches, some people have found my comparison useful.

• Ragtime to the Rockies, June 2016 in which I first attend the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival (I'm an old piano payer) in Sedalia, Missouri, then continue back west thru the Rockies, etc.
• My Civil War Trip II, Fall 2015 in which I again explore a little Civil War history. Also take a week "break" in the middle to stay at a resort in Western North Carolina.
• The "Meek Cutoff" Trip which entails an almost month-long trip to the Pacific Northwest. You'll have to read it to understand about the "Meek Cutoff." If you like history of the westward pioneer period, you might enjoy it.
• 2015 Possum Trot Rally and Tour de Texas. Been a while since I'd been thru Texas, so it was time. Had a wonderful time with those Texans, too. Good roads in the Hill Country...I'm goin' back, hopefully, for the Fall 2015 "Roll the Bones" rally.
• The 2014 "American Tragedy" Tour in which Dr. Greg and Wotan (my name for the BMW GS) head to the Adirondack Mountains of New York. You'll have to read the Ride Report to see why it's called the "American Tragedy" tour...
• 4-day Spring Tour of Southern New Mexico in which Dr. Greg rides thru a snowstorm (well, almost). First trip on the new BMW R1200GS (water-cooled).
• Weekend Trip to the Gila. . A short trip to the Gila Mountains of southern New Mexico (well, actually the Black Range). Camping and hiking...havin' fun as usual.
• Can you GO HOME again? An 8-day trip to my hometown of Hemet, California (halfway between L.A. and San Diego, and 50 miles inland). Lotsa changes in my old hometown, most of them questionable...
• 2012 U.S. Civil War Trip in which Dr. Greg and Milledue (my name for the Ducati Multistrada) try to make sense out of that conflict. This trip takes place during the Fall, best time to head thru the Southeastern USA.
• July 2012 Lewis & Clark trip on my beautiful replacement 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200S motorcycle (after crashing the first one). This was my first "post-retirement" trip, so I really had peace of mind.
• Fall 2010 Trip from New Mexico to New England on my beautiful new 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200S motorcycle (may it RIP)...
• Here's why my beautiful 2010 Ducati is now RIP. THE CRASH happened on November 3, 2010 on CO hwy 17 about three miles north of La Manga Pass...third bad crash in seven years. Maybe I oughta take up a new hobby...
• Summer 2009 Motorcycle Trip to Seattle for yet another robot conference. Went out to the West Coast, up to Seattle, then back through the Rockies. Used every map that I brought...
• Dr. Greg's 2008 Tour de Texas in which I spend the 2008 Spring Break traveling from Albuquerque down to the Guadalupe Mountains (highest point in Texas), then Big Bend, the onward to the "Hill Country Paradise" and all the way to Houston. Ostensibly to visit my oldest son Paul. It was fun.
• Motorcycle Trip to Orlando, FL in which former student David Wilson and I ride from New Mexico to Florida and back during May 2006. It was fun, too.

• Teaching Interests My teaching interests lie mainly in the area of dynamic systems, control, robotics (including the Lego variety), and microcontrollers, look here for details...
• Research Activities I'm involved in several projects in the areas of robotics and dynamic systems and controls, including active structures, open-architecture robot controllers, flexible robots, input preshaping, etc. Look here for details.
• Lego Robots NEW! Movie clip from 2001 contest Look here to find out about the Mechanical Engineering department's coolest class...at least in my humble opinion. :-)
• Recumbent Bicycles I've been a "serious" (don't really like that term) cyclist for over 30 years, but I just got this new recumbent. It's a little different, but I sure do like it.
• Motorcycles and other hobbies It all started when Duke traded a pickup for this 650 Triumph in 1958... the rest is history. See all the Starr road bikes and dirt bikes... as to the other hobbies, you'll have to look.
• Ever wonder why nerds are unpopular? Being a nerd myself, I found this essay to be quite interesting. Other essays by Paul Graham are also worth a read. And while I'm on that subject, my wife married a nerd, or "geek" as we're sometimes called. Ever wonder why Geeks Make the Best Husbands ?

  Newsflash! I got a HelmetCamera for an anniversary present (thanks, Annie!) and here's a short VIDEO of a ride in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico.

Graduate School

My favorite National Anthem of all time...

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