Principal Consultant

Robert A. Sottilare, Ph.D.

Dr. Sottilare holds leadership & technical roles in adaptive instructional science and technology:

  • CEO & Founder of Adaptive Instructional Consultants LLC

  • Director of Learning Sciences at Soar Technology, Inc.

  • Father of the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT)

  • Founding Chairman of the Board, Adaptive Instructional Systems (AIS) Consortium

  • Founding Chair, IEEE AIS Working Group (Project 2247; emeritus)

  • Chair, IEEE AIS Technical Advisory Group (planning group for the AIS Consortium - completed)

  • Chair, HCII AIS Conference

  • Member, National Science Foundation Learner Data Institute

  • Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Learning Technology

  • Senior Member of IEEE

Research Interests:

  • Applications of artificial intelligence to enhance human performance and reduce human workload

  • Learner & team modeling in support of instructional assessment

  • Automation of learner & team state classification and prediction

  • Automation & optimization of adaptive instructional decisions

  • Design of adaptive instructional system (AIS) software architectures

Publications & Patents:

  • Over 230 technical publications in the learning sciences field with over 2400 citations (i10-index = 50; h-index = 25)

  • Patent (#7,525,735) for a high resolution, head mounted projection display using virtual target technologies to support virtual, live (embedded) and augmented reality training

  • Lead editor, Design Recommendations for Intelligent Tutoring Systems book series

  • Lead Editor and Author, International Journal of AI in Education (IJAIED): Special Issue on the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT) - Creating a Stable and Flexible Platform for Innovations in AIED Research

Education, Mentoring & Academic Appointments:

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Modeling & Simulation with a focus in Intelligent Systems at the University of Central Florida

  • Graduate, Advanced Program Manager's Course at Defense Acquisition University, Fort Belvoir, Virginia

  • Graduate Faculty Scholar, University of Central Florida, School of Modeling, Simulation & Training

  • Adjunct Professor, University of Central Florida, Intelligent Tutoring System Theory & Design

  • Visiting Faculty & Scientist, United States Military Academy

  • Dissertation Committee Member - University of Central Florida, Columbia University

  • Post-Doctoral Mentor - Oak Ridge Associated Universities

  • Curriculum Advisory Boards - University of Central Florida, Florida Polytechnic University

  • Visiting Lecturer - University of Central Florida, Columbia University, North Carolina State University, Florida Polytechnic University

Awards & Honors:

  • Best Tutorial (with Jeanine DeFalco) at the Inter-service/Industry Training Simulation & Education Conference (2020)

  • National Training & Simulation Association (NTSA) Team Award for Education & Human Performance (with Benjamin Goldberg, Keith Brawner & Anne Sinatra) for their research & development contributions to the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT), an open-source software architecture for authoring, managing and evaluating adaptive instruction (2019)

  • US Army Meritorious Service Award (2018)

  • NTSA Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement in Modeling & Simulation (2015)

  • US Army Research Development & Engineering Command (RDECOM) Modeling & Simulation Lifetime Achievement Award (2012 - inaugural recipient)

  • US Army Achievement Medal for Civilian Service (2008)

Presenting at the Industry Consortium on Learning Engineering (ICICLE) Conference

Q&A at the 2019 ICICLE Conference at George Mason University

Receiving the RDECOM Modeling Lifetime Achievement Award

At the SFC Paul Ray Smith Simulation & Training Technology Center, Orlando, Florida