People

Group Director

Warren Dixon, Ph.D., Dean's Leadership Professor and Department Chair

Prof. Warren Dixon received his Ph.D. in 2000 from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from Clemson University. He worked as a research staff member and Eugene P. Wigner Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) until 2004, when he joined the University of Florida in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. His main research interest has been the development and application of Lyapunov-based control techniques for uncertain nonlinear systems. His work has been recognized by the 2019 IEEE Control Systems Technology Award, (2017-2018 & 2012-2013) University of Florida College of Engineering Doctoral Dissertation Mentoring Award, 2015 & 2009 American Automatic Control Council (AACC) O. Hugo Schuck (Best Paper) Award, the 2013 Fred Ellersick Award for Best Overall MILCOM Paper, the 2011 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Dynamics Systems and Control Division Outstanding Young Investigator Award, the 2006 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Early Academic Career Award, an NSF CAREER Award (2006-2011), the 2004 Department of Energy Outstanding Mentor Award, and the 2001 ORNL Early Career Award for Engineering Achievement. He is an ASME Fellow (2016) and IEEE Fellow (2016), was an IEEE Control Systems Society (CSS) Distinguished Lecturer (2013-2018), served as the Director of Operations for the Executive Committee of the IEEE CSS Board of Governors (BOG) (2012-2015), and served as an elected member of the IEEE CSS BOG (2019-2020). His technical contributions and service to the IEEE CSS were recognizd by the IEEE CSS Distinguished Member Award (2020). He was awarded the Air Force Commander's Public Service Award (2016) for his contributions to the U.S. Air Force Science Advisory Board. He is currently or formerly an associate editor for ASME Journal of Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, Automatica, IEEE Control Systems, IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics: Part B Cybernetics, and the International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control.
Email | CV (pdf - last updated 2021)


Visiting Faculty, Research Scientists, and Postdoctoral Researchers


Dan Guralnik

Dan Guralnik received his Ph.D. from the Technion-IIT Mathematics department in 2005, specializing in Geometric Group Theory. After post-doctoral appointments at Vanderbilt University and University of Oklahoma, where he worked on asymptotic geometry and boundary dynamics of discrete groups, he moved in 2011 to a post-doctoral appointment at KodLab, the legged locomotion laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, to start work on applications of topology and category theory to problems of knowledge representation in the context of navigation and control. In fall 2019 he has joined NCR as a research scientist to work on developing formal and category-theoretical methods in hybrid control, as part of the AFOSR Center of Excellence in Assured Autonomy in Contested Environments.
Email | NCR Publications


Omkar Patil

Omkar received his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) degree in production and industrial engineerin g from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi in 2018, where he was honored with the BOSS award for his outstanding bachelor's thesis project. Following his graduation, Omkar worked as a Project Associate at the Control & Automation Lab of IIT Delhi on a sponsored project entitled "Aerial Manipulation - Modeling, Planning and Control". In August 2019, he joined the Nonlinear Controls and Robotics (NCR) Laboratory at the University of Florida under the guidance of Dr. Warren Dixon to pursue his doctoral studies. Omkar received his Master of Science (M.S.) degree in mechanical engineering in August 2022 and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in May 2023 from the University of Florida. Currently, he is working as a postdoctoral research associate at the NCR lab. His research focuses on the development and application of innovative Lyapunov-based nonlinear, robust, and adaptive control techniques.
Email | NCR Publications | LinkedIn Page


Ph.D. Students


Kimberly Stubbs

Kimberly Stubbs earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in May 2019 from the University of Florida. While completing her undergraduate degree, Kim was an active member of Tau Beta Pi, participated in the Integrated Product and Process Design program, and volunteered as a mentor with the FIRST Robotics team at PK Yonge High School. She is currently pursuing a PhD under the supervision of Dr. Warren Dixon. Kimberly’s research interests are primarily focused on human-robot interaction and rehabilitative robotics. Expected graduation is May 2023.
Email | NCR Publications


Hannah Sweatland

Hannah Sweatland received her Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in May of 2020. As an undergraduate, she conducted research on lower body robotic exoskeletons and interned at Northrop Grumman Corporation. Hannah is currently pursuing a Ph. D. in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on human-robot interaction and rehabilitative robotics under the supervision of Dr. Warren Dixon. Expected graduation is May 2024.
Email| NCR Publications | LinkedIn Page


Patrick Amy

Patrick Amy received his Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology in 2017. He continued his education at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) where he earned a Master of Science in Engineering in Robotics in 2019. While completing his master’s degree, he worked in the Dynamical Systems and Control Laboratory at JHU and the Naval Research Laboratory, in D.C. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under the guidance of Dr. Warren Dixon. Expected graduation is May 2025.
Email| NCR Publications


Cristian Nino

Cristian Nino graduated from the University of Florida in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. As an undergraduate, Cristian was a robotics research assistant across six research labs, as well as a senior design teaching assistant for two years. Cristian is currently pursuing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Warren Dixon. His research interests include online reinforcement learning, stochastic control, and network control applied multi-agent guidance and optimization. His expected graduation is May 2026.
Email| NCR Publications


Rebecca Hart

Rebecca Hart received her Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University in May 2022. During her undergraduate career, she participated in undergraduate research investigating fluidic artificial muscles, a co-op with Kimberly Clark, and was an active member of the Pack Motorsports BAJA team. Her research interests are focused on human-robot interaction and rehabilitative robotics. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Warren Dixon. Expected graduation is May 2026.
Email| NCR Publications


Jhyv Philor

Jhyv Philor received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Florida. During his undergraduate studies, he did research in keywords spotting for hearing aid devices using deep learning techniques at the University of Washington. He later worked with Dioxide Materials focusing on fuel cell design and CO2 electrolyzer scale up. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering under Dr. Warren Dixon with an interest in robotics and autonomous systems.
Email| NCR Publications


Saiedeh Akbari

Saiedeh Akbari graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from K.N. Toosi University of Technology in 2020. As an undergraduate, she researched discrete-time sliding mode control of permanent magnet DC motors. In 2023, she graduated from the University of Alabama with a master's degree in mechanical engineering, delving into nonlinear and adaptive control of hybrid and switching systems. Her research focused on rehabilitation exoskeletons, particularly motorized functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycle. Currently, Saiedeh is a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida, where she continues her studies on adaptive control of hybrid systems using Lyapunov and passivity-based methods. Her work aims to enhance the understanding and application of adaptive control techniques in various systems, particularly in the context of FES cycles. She is expected to graduate in May 2027.
Email| NCR Publications| LinkedIn Page


Xuehui Shen

Xuehui Shen received her Bachelor of Science degree in Automotive Engineering from Wuhan University of Technology. In 2023, she got a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in robotics and control track from Columbia University. During her graduate studies, she participated in Roar Lab to do robotics research about deep reinforcement learning and parallel robots. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under Dr. Warren Dixon. Her research interests are focused on robotics and motion planning under deep learning techniques. The expected graduation is May 2027.
Email| NCR Publications| LinkedIn Page


Wenyu "David" Wu

Wenyu Wu received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He got a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. During his graduate studies, he participated in the CERLAB to perform research in the field of learning-based control and robotics. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under Dr. Warren Dixon. His research interest is the application of deep learning algorithms in control scenarios for better performance. His expected graduation date is May 2027.
Email| NCR Publications


Brandon Fallin

Brandon Fallin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida in May 2022. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Florida under the supervision of Dr. Warren Dixon. His research interests include privacy and obfuscation with application to nonlinear control systems. His expected graduation is May 2027.
Email| NCR Publications


Max Gardenswartz

Max Gardenswartz received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in June 2024. His research interests are focused on the application of deep learning to Lyapunov-based control techniques of nonlinear systems to robotics and UAVs, especially in cases involving intermittent feedback. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Florida under the supervision of Dr. Warren Dixon. Expected graduation is May 2028.
Email| NCR Publications


Keith Currier

Keith Currier received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Central Florida in May 2023. As an undergraduate, he participated in undergraduate research at the WEAR laboratory at UCF and worked on myoelectric controls for an upper limb exoskeleton and machine learning research for hand gesture recognition. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under Dr. Warren Dixon. His research interests are physics-informed encoder-decoder networks for nonlinear controls, manifold and metric learning, and network systems. His expected graduation is May 2028.
Email| NCR Publications| LinkedIn Page


M.S. Students


Alumni

Ph.D. Students
45. Emily Griffis (2020-2024) NCR Publications | Dissertation, MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2024,
Senior Engineer, Systems Engineering, Raytheon, Tucson, AZ.
44. Ciku Makumi (2020-2024) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Research Aerospace Engineer, Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, FL.
43. Sage Edwards (2019-2024) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Staff Researcher, Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, FL.
42. Omkar Patil (2019-2023) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Postdoctoral Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
41. Axton Isaly (2019-2023) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
National Research Council (NRC) Postdoctoral Researcher, Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, FL.
40. Duc (Daniel) Le (2017-2022) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Aerospace Controls Research Engineer, Aurora Flight Sciences, Boston MA.
39. Max Greene (2018-2022) NCR Publications | Dissertation, MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2023
Aerospace Controls Research Engineer, Aurora Flight Sciences, Boston MA.
38. Runhan Sun (2017-2022) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Senior Software Engineer, Mathworks, Natick, MA.
37. Brendon Allen (2018-2021) NCR Publications | Dissertation, MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2022
Assistant Professor, Auburn University, Auburn, AL.
36. Federico Zegers (2017-2021) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Staff Researcher, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Baltimore MD
35. Zachary Bell (2015-2019) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Staff Researcher, Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, FL.
34. Patryk Deptula (2015-2019) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Principal Machine Learning Scientist, Vatn Systems, Portsmouth, RI.
33. Courtney Rouse (2015-2019) NCR Publications | Dissertation, MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2020
Research Engineer, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX.
32. Christian Cousin (2015-2019) NCR Publications | Dissertation, MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2019
Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Al.
31. Hsi-Yuan "Steven" Chen (2014-2018) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Applied Scientist, Amazon Robotics, North Reading, MA.
30. Victor Duenas (2015-2018) NCR Publications | Dissertation, MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2018,
Assistant Professor, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
29. Ryan Licitra (2013-2017) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
NRC Fellow, Air Force Research Laboratory, Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, FL.
28. Indrasis Chakraborty (2014-2017) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Data Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA.
27. Serhat Obuz (2012-2016) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Assistant Professor, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey.
26. Anup Parikh (2012-2016) NCR Publications | Dissertation, MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2017,
Postdoctoral Researcher, Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM.
25. Teng-Hu Cheng (2011-2015) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Assistant Professor, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
24. Matthew Bellman (2010-2015) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer, Myolyn LLC, Gainesville, SC.
23. Ryan Downey (2010-2015) NCR Publications | Dissertation MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2016,
Post Doctoral Researcher, Medical University of South Carolina, Charelston, SC.
22. Patrick Walters (2011-2015) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Staff Researcher, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City, FL.
21. Justin Klotz (2011-2015) NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Staff Researcher, Department of Defense, Huntsville, AL.
20. Rushikesh Kamalapurkar (2010-2014) NCR Publications | Dissertation MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2015,
Assistant Professor, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK.
19. Brendan Bialy (2010-2014), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Staff Researcher, Air Force Research Laboratory, Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, FL.
18. Sankrith Subramanian (2007-2012), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
xG Technology, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL.
17. Nic Fischer (2009-2012), NCR Publications | Dissertation MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2013,
Principal Engineer, area17, Menlo Park, CA.
16. Qiang Wang (2008-2012), NCR Publications | Dissertation
Founder, QJWD Biomedical, Gainesville, FL.
15. Huyen Dinh (2008-2012), NCR Publications | Dissertation
Professor, University of Transport and Communication, Hanoi, Vietnam.
14. Dohee Kim (2008-2011), NCR Publications | Dissertation
Hyundai Motor Company, Korea.
13. Zhen Kan (2007-2011), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Professor, University of Science and Technology of China.
12. Marcus Johnson (2007-2011), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Research Aerospace Engineer, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.
11. Ashwin Dani (2007-2011), NCR Publications | Dissertation MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2012,
Associate Professor, University of Connecticut, Storres, CT.
10. Shubhendu Bhasin (2007-2011), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
9. Zach Wilcox (2006-2010), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Service Manager, Waterfront Construction, Seattle, WA.
8. Nitin Sharma (2006-2010), NCR Publications | Dissertation MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2011,
Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
7. Siddhartha Mehta (2007-2010), NCR Publications | Dissertation ,
Postdoctoral Fellow, Eglin AFB, Fort Walton Beach, FL.
6. Rhoe (Tony) Thompson (2006-2009), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Branch Technical Advisor, Air Force Research Laboratory, Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, FL.
5. Parag Patre (2005-2009), NCR Publications | Dissertation MAE Department Best Dissertation Award 2010,
Senior Controls and Robotics Engineer, TE Connectivity in Harrisburg, PA
4. William Mackunis (2006-2009), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Associate Professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL.
3. Keith Dupree (2005-2009), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Staff Researcher, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Baltimore, MD.
2. Kent Kaiser (2005-2008), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Honda Aircraft Company, Greensboro, NC.
1. Guoqiang Hu (2004-2007), NCR Publications | Dissertation,
Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
Co-Advised Ph.D. Students
Arman Sargolzaei co-advised with Carl Crane, University of Florida (2020), Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tennessee Tech University, Tennessee, USA.
Tom Galluzzo co-advised with Carl Crane, University of Florida (2006), Founder and CEO, IAM robotics, Michigan, USA.
Sanjay Solanki co-advised with Carl Crane, University of Florida (2006), IAM robotics, Michigan, USA.
Vilas Chitrakaran co-advised with Darren Dawson, Clemson University (2006), Senior Roboticist, Arrival, London, UK.
Michael McIntyre co-advised with Darren Dawson, Clemson University (2006), Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
Jinho Lee co-advised with John Ziegert, University of Florida (2005), Samsung Corning Precision Glass, Korea.
Jian Chen co-advised with Darren Dawson, Clemson University (2005), Professor, College of Control Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, China.
Yongchun Fang co-advised with Darren Dawson, Clemson University (2002), Dean, College of Artificial Intelligence, Nankai University, China.
M.S. Students (thesis)
Christian Harris (2017-2020), (thesis), Lockheed Martin Advanced Algorithms Technical Center, Orlando, FL.
Jason Nezvadovitz (2016-2017), (thesis), Staff Researcher, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, Lexington, MA.
Manelle Merad (2013-2014), (thesis), France.
Fanny Bouillon (2012-2013), (thesis), France.
Celine Laplassotte (2011-2012), (thesis), MBA program, Paris, France.
Ganeshram Jayaraman (2007-2010), Research Intern, Technical University of Munich (TUM).
Sankrith Subramanian (2007-2009), (thesis), Doctoral Student, UF, FL.
Keith Stegath (2005-2007), (thesis), Private Company, Gainesville, FL
Chien-Hao Liang (2005-2007), (thesis), Tiawan.
Sumit Gupta (2004-2006), (thesis), Moore Tool Co. Inc., Bridgeport, CT
Charu Makkar (2004-2006), (thesis), Deloitte Consulting LLP, Chicago, IL.
Co-Advised M.S. Students (thesis)
Siddhartha Mehta co-advised with Tom Burks, University of Florida (2007).
Prakash Chawda co-advised with Darren Dawson, Clemson University (2003).
Visiting Scholars and Postdoctoral Researchers (not former students)
Marcio de Queiroz, Professor, Louisiana State University
Joel Rosenfeld, (2014-2017) Assistant Professor, University of South Florida
Hiroyuki Kawai, (2013-2014) Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Japan
Can Ulas Dogruer, (2012-2013) Hacettepe University, Turkey
Yasunori Kawai, (2012-2013) Kanazawa University, Japan
Dong Kyoung Chwa, (2011-2012) Ajou University, China
Hakjae Kim, (2010-2012) National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
Hee-Tae Chung, (2010) Pusan University of Foreign Studies, Pusan, South Korea
Nick Gans, (2005-2009) University of Texas at Arlington
Lennon Corke, (2007) Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation, Australia
Hoi Bum Chung, (2006-2007) Sunchon National University, China
Wei Wang, (2006) Harbin Institute of Technology, China