McLurkin completed his
PhD in computer science in May 2008 at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Previously, he earned his master's degree in electrical engineering from the
University of California at Berkeley and
B.S. from
MIT. As part of his doctoral research, McLurkin developed algorithms and techniques for programming "swarms" of autonomous robots to mimic the behavior of bees, including their abilities to cluster, disperse, follow, and orbit. In 1995, McLurkin was invited by the
Smithsonian Institution to speak about his life and career in a presentation for schoolchildren sponsored by the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. ==References==