Nicolaas (Nico) Theron is a Visiting Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering (Robotics) program. He retired as an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pretoria in South Africa in November 2021, where he taught control systems, undergraduate dynamics and computer programming for engineering students. He was involved in research in structural control and robotics.

He completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York in 1994, on elastic multibody dynamics of helicopter rotors. After completing his PhD, he taught for five years at the Stellenbosch University in South Africa, before moving to the University of Pretoria in 2000. Before his PhD studies he worked for 10 years in the South African industry.