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About Me

I work on Autonomous Systems and develop solutions in AI and Robotics. I direct the Vehicle Autonomy and Intelligence Lab (VAIL).

Before joining Indiana University in 2017, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Southern California since 2015. I also spent two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Field Robotics Center of Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University during 2013-2015. I obtained my PhD from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University in 2013.

Some Recent/Past Activities

2025-8: I start serving as the Director for IU's new Robotics Program. We have openings for faculty Position. Information will be released soon.

2022-10: I start serving as an Associate Editor for Autonomous Robots (AURO) journal.

2022-06: I start serving as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE).

2019-10: I co-organized a TED-talk style AI workshop on "Indiana National Lab Day" in Indianaplis. We had a selective list of speakers who are renowned professors and scientists from University of Notre Dame, Purdue University, Indiana Innovation Institute, Indiana University, as well as Program Directors from 5 National Labs in different regions of US.

2017-04: I co-organized the second Southern California Robotics Symposium (SCR 2017) which was held on the beautiful campus of USC on April 14, 2017. This year's event has been a big success and we had over 300 attendees. There were 15 speakers, 25 accepted posters, and 16 exhibition booths, from both academia and industry.

2016-04: I co-organized the inaugural Southern California Robotics Symposium (SCR 2016) that was held on the campus of UCSD on 4/22, 2016. We achieved a great success, with an amazing line-up of speakers and around 300 participants.



Course(s) Teaching in Fall 2025

E399/599: Autonomous Robotics

This course covers foundational theories, methods, and technologies needed by modern autonomous robots. Topics related to modeling robotic systems that can acquire and use knowledge, plan and control, learn and reason, communicate and coordinate, will be discussed. This course will involve several coding assignments/projects, so experience with a programming language (at least Python) is expected. Course materials are provided at IU Canvas.


Courses Taught in the Past

E399/599: Autonomous Robots; Fall 20/21/22/23/24

E502/399: Introduction to Cyber-Physical Systems; Spring 18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25; Fall 19

E503/399: Introduction to Intelligent Systems; Fall 18

E599: Special topics on Autonomous Robotics Planning and Learning; Fall 17

E500: Seminar Course: Introduction to Intelligent Systems Engineering (co-instructor); Fall 17-now


For Prospective Students

If you are interested in pursuing a PhD with me, thank you for your enthusiasm for our work! I always welcome highly motivated students with a strong background in robotics and/or AI. However, to ensure we are a good fit, please first review my recent publications and research projects. If our work aligns with your interests, send me your CV/resume and transcripts. Please understand that due to the high volume of emails I receive, I may not be able to respond to every inquiry.

Motivated IU undergraduate and Master's students are also welcome to get involved! I strongly encourage you to take one of my courses first—this helps you build a necessary foundation and allows me to get to know you. Before reaching out, please review my research areas and identify one or two topics that interest you most. When you contact me, include your CV/resume, transcripts, and the research topics you’d like to explore. We can then arrange a meeting to discuss potential projects.

Please do not email me about TA positions, as I do not handle TA assignments and have no control over them.