The Control, Intelligent Autonomy/Robots and Optimization (CIAO) Research Lab consists of both undergraduate and graduate students in electrical engineering and robotics under the supervision by me in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the George Mason University.
The research areas our group is actively engaged with are control theory, real-time scheduling, human-robot interaction/teaming, mixed integer optimization for resource allocation, bio-inspired robotics and autonomy, machine learning, and cyber-physical human systems.
Current Students
Yidi Huang, PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, GMU, since Spring 2022
Bio: Yidi Huang obtained his master degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Florida (UF) in 2021 and his bachelor degree from Henan University of Science and Technology, China, in 2018. Before joining GMU, Previously, Yidi worked at General Electric Company as an internship for product software design.
Yidi has profound experience of 3D model building, data and image processing, and deep learning study. He has strong interest in researching deep neural network structure and computer vision. There are also some research that he worked previously about pattern recognition and natural language processing. His current research focuses on exploring binocular vision fusion to mimic human perception using artificial muscle-driven robotic eyes. Yidi’s prior research experience consists of ultrasonic guided waves in structural health monitoring and comparing different data compression methods to reconstruct and analyze data.
Renke Wang, PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, GMU, since Fall 2022
Bio: Renke Wang obtained her Master’s degree in Control Science and Engineering from Dalian University of Technology, China, in 2020, and her Bachelor’s degree in Automation from Dalian University of Technology, China, in 2017.
Renke’s previous research focused on stability analysis and control synthesis of control systems, which involved positive systems, switched systems, and Markov jump linear systems. The approaches utilized include dwell time, state-dependent switching, event-triggered control, etc. She is currently on exploring transformative approaches to design optimal schedules and controls for resource-constrained cyber physical systems.
Rajul Kumar, PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, GMU, since Fall 2023
Bio: Rajul obtained his Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical Engineering from Delhi Technological University (formally Delhi College of Engineering) in 2021. Before joining GMU, Rajul worked as a Research Associate at Robotics center of Plaksha University on image processing via deep learning & drone based agricultural field remote sensing.
Rajul also has past industrial experience of working on collaborative robotic arm motion planning & obstacle avoidance as a GET in Mobile Robotics R&D department of Addverb Technologies Pvt. Ltd. during 2021-2022 Aug. His past research work also includes designing a wide range of control strategies like adaptive, fractional order and AI based intelligent control for aerial vehicles. His broad interest is in Bio-mimetic robots, Human-robot interaction and medical robotics.
Jinliang Zhao, PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, GMU, since Fall 2023
Bio: Jinliang Zhao obtained his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in 2017 and his bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University, Shenyang, China, in 2015. Before joining GMU, Jinliang worked at CRRC as a mechanical engineer for over 5 years.
Jinliang focused on mechanical engineering for over 10 years, especially structural analysis. Jinliang has implemented analytical methods such as FEA methods into the design of braking systems of locomotives and gearboxes of wind turbines. He also has experience of the dynamic analysis of mechanical systems. In GMU, he is devoted to the mechanical design and control system design of miniature aerial robots.
Alumni
Sunil Kumar Rajendran, PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, GMU, since Spring 2018
Bio: Dr. Sunil Kumar Rajendran holds Doctoral and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering specializing in Controls and Robotics from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Anna University, India. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at North Carolina State University. His research interests include, but are not limited to, bio-inspired and soft robotics, underwater robotics, reinforcement learning, visual learning-based control, computer vision, control systems, and artificial intelligence. His current research involves designing, modeling, and developing learning-based control for a robotic eye and a soft robotic fish driven by artificial muscles.
Students Mentored
- [June 2022-September 2022] Chase Joyner, undergraduate student, Stanford University, Stanford, California
- [June 2022-August 2022] Diya Bhattacharjee, high-school student, Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, Maryland
- [June 2020-August 2020] Cynthia Li, high school student
- [May 2019-July 2019] Yuki Gao, undergraduate student in New York Institute of Technology, New York City
- [Sep 2016-May 2017] Weiyu Liu, PhD student in Georgia Tech, Atlanta
- [Sep 2016-May 2017] Zhen Liu, PhD student in University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- [Sep 2016-May 2017] Peiyu Wang, Security Engineer at CertiK, New York City
- [Sep 2016-May 2017] Timothy Li, Applications Engineer at Tobii Tech, Mountain View
- [May 2016-Dec 2016] Hongrui Zheng, PhD student in University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- [May 2016-July 2016] Emily Anaya, PhD student in Stanford, Stanford