Professor
WordPress
Naira Hovakimyan
Naira Hovakimyan received her MS degree in Applied Mathematics from Yerevan State University in Armenia. She got her Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics from the Institute of Applied Mathematics of Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. She is currently W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering and the Director of AVIATE Center of UIUC. She has co-authored two books, eleven patents and more than 500 refereed publications. She is the 2011 recipient of AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight Award, the 2015 recipient of SWE Achievement Award, the 2017 recipient of IEEE CSS Award for Technical Excellence in Aerospace Controls, and the 2019 recipient of AIAA Pendray Aerospace Literature Award. In 2014 she was awarded the Humboldt prize for her lifetime achievements. In 2015 and 2023 she was awarded the UIUC Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Advising. She is Fellow of AIAA, IEEE, ASME, and senior member of NAI. She is cofounder and chief scientist of Intelinair. Her work was featured in the New York Times, on Fox TV and CNBC. Her research interests are in control and optimization, autonomous systems, machine learning, neural networks, game theory, and their applications in aerospace, robotics, mechanical, agricultural, electrical, petroleum, biomedical engineering, and elderly care.
PhD Students
Zhuohuan Wu
PhD Student
Hyungsoo Kang
PhD Student
Yikun Cheng
PhD Student
Lin Song
PhD Student
Chuyuan Tao
PhD Student
Jing Wu
PhD Student
Yuliang Gu
PhD Student
Minjun Sung
PhD Student
Christoph Aoun
PhD Student
Sambhu Karumanchi
PhD Student
Ran Tao
PhD Student
Vivek Sharma
PhD Student
Minkyung Kim
PhD Student
Chengyu Yang
PhD Student
Hyungyu Lee
PhD Student
John Bullock
PhD Student
Mikayel Aramyan
PhD Student
MS Students
Yang Zhao
MS Student
BS Students
Yu Youyou
BS Student
Bose Pramuanpornsatid
BS Student
Kennedy Berschel
BS Student
Vansh Sharma
BS Student
Visiting Scholars
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Alumni
Former PhD Graduate Researchers
| Neng Wan | June 2023, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “An Information Theoretic Analysis of Control and Filtering Limitations by the I-MMSE Relationships” Currently employed by Acenew, Inc., China |
| Wenbin Wan | November 2022, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Resilient Estimation and Safe Control for Cyber-Physical Systems” Currently on the faculty of the University of New Mexico |
| Kasey Alan Ackerman | November 2021, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “L1 Adaptive Control Flight Testing and Extension to Nonlinear Reference Systems with Unmatched Uncertainty” Currently employed by NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA |
| Andrew Paul Patterson | November 2021, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Modeling and Trajectory Planning for Acoustically Aware Aircraft with Propeller Phase Control” Currently employed by NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA |
| Gabriel Barsi Haberfeld | July 2021, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Efficient Risk-Averse Algorithms for Air-Ground Payload Transfers” Currently employed by Apple in Cupertino, CA |
| Arun Lakshmanan | July 2021, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Safe Planning and Control for Uncertain Nonlinear Systems via L1 Adaptive Control and Contraction Analysis” Currently employed by Apple, Mountain View, CA |
| Javier Puig-Navarro | April 2021, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Distributed Time-Critical Coordination Strategies for Multiple UAS in Cluttered Environments” Currently employed by National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, VA |
| Alexandre Barbosa | June 2020, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Learning-based crop management optimization using multi-stream convolutional neural networks” Currently employed by Amazon Robotics in Boston, MA |
| Thiago Marinho | June 2019, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Bio-inspired vision-based evasion control: collision avoidance without distance measurement” Currently employed by Waymo as Software Engineer, CA |
| Donglei Sun | May 2019, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Aircraft loss-of-control prevention via backup flight control law design and flight envelope protection” Currently on the faculty of The University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China |
| Hyung Jin Yoon | May 2019, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Path planning and control of flying robots with account of human’s safety perception” Currently on the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tennessee Tech University, TN |
| Hamidreza Jafarnejadsani | November 2018, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Robust adaptive sampled-data control design for MIMO systems: applications in cyber-physical security” Currently on the faculty of Stevens Institute of Technology |
| Venanzio Cichella | August 2018, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Cooperative Autonomous Systems: Motion Planning and Coordinated Tracking Control for Multi-Vehicle Missions” Currently on the faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Iowa |
| Ronald Choe | November 2016, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Distributed Cooperative Trajectory Generation for Multiple Autonomous Vehicles using Pythagorean Hodograph Bézier Curves” Currently working on his startup company |
| Evgeny Kharisov | August 2013, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “L1 Adaptive Output Feedback Control Architectures” Currently employed by Waymo, CA |
| Hui Sun | July 2013, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “L1 Adaptive Control with Quantization and Delay” Currently employed by Apple, Inc., CA |
| Zhiyuan Li | July 2013, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Guidance, Control and Estimation of Autonomous Vehicles” Currently employed by WeRide.AI, CA |
| Enric Xargay | May 2013, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Time-Critical Cooperative Path-Following Control of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” Currently working on his startup company |
| Dapeng Li | March 2011, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Closed-Loop Analysis and Feedback Design in the Presence of Limited Information” Currently employed by JD, CA |
| Jiang Wang | February 2009, Virginia Tech Dissertation “Verifiable Adaptive Control Solutions for Flight Control Applications” Currently employed by Apple, CA |
| Amanda Dippold | May 2009, Virginia Tech Dissertation “Vision-based Obstacle Avoidance of Multiple Vehicles Performing Time-critical Missions” Currently with Howard Community College, Baltimore, MD |
| Vahram Stepanyan | August 2006, Virginia Tech Dissertation “Vision based Guidance and Flight Control in Problems of Aerial Tracking” Currently employed as senior research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center |
| Kwang-Ki Kim | 2009-2010, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Moved to MIT in fall of 2010, currently postdoctoral fellow at KAUST |
| Mohammad Naghnaeian | 2010-2011, moved to a different group, currently postdoctoral fellow at MIT |
| Aditya Paranjape | 2007-2009, Virginia Tech / University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Currently employed as lecturer in Imperial College, London, UK |
Former MS Graduate Researchers
| Gabriel Haberfeld Barsi | Fall 2017, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Design and Control of a Compact Aerial Manipulation System with a Delta-Type Parallel Robot” Currently pursuing Ph.D. at UIUC |
| Andrew Patterson | Spring 2017, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “System identification for development of distributed electric propulsion vertical take-off vehicles” Currently pursuing Ph.D. at UIUC |
| Robert Mitchell Jones | Spring 2017, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Aerial manipulation for indoor applications” Currently with GreenSight Agronomics, Boston, MA |
| Arun Lakshmanan | Fall 2016, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Piecewise Bezier Curve Trajectory Trajectory Generation and Control of Quadrotors” Currently pursuing Ph.D. at UIUC |
| Charles Orozco | Spring 2016, non-thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Currently with Fermilab of Department of Energy |
| Joseph Cottrell | Fall 2015, non-thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Currently with Baker Hughes, Houston, TX |
| Jan Vervoorst | Spring 2016, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “A modular simulation environment for the improved dynamic simulation of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles” Currently employed at Ascending Technologies/Intel |
| Wu Xiong | Spring 2015, non-thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Currently with Autel, San Francisco, CA |
| Mohammad Aneeq Zaman | Summer 2015, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “An Efficient Way for Path Planning of Cooperative Autonomously Soaring Gliders” Currently pursuing Ph.D. at UIUC |
| Mustafa Mukadam | Summer 2014, non-thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Currently pursuing Ph.D. at Georgia Tech |
| Thidarat Chongvisal | Spring 2014, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Pilot-in-the-Loop Simulated Flight Tests of a Loss-of-Control Prediction and Prevention System for NASA’s Transport Class Model” Currently employed at Schlumberger, Houston, TX |
| Kasey Ackerman | Summer 2014, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Flight Simulator Development for Pilot-in-the-Loop testing using NASA’s Transport Class Model” Currently pursuing Ph.D. at UIUC |
| Steven Pelech | Spring 2013, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Integration of the GTM T2 Model into a Full Sized Simulator for Human-in-the-Loop Testing” Currently with Raytheon, Tuscon, AZ |
| Syed Bilal Mehdi | Fall 2012, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Simulink Toolbox for L1 Adaptive Control Theory” Currently pursuing Ph.D. at UIUC |
| Brian Jamison | Summer 2012, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Currently with The Boeing Co. |
| Justin Vanness | Spring 2012, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “Two Extensions to L1 Adaptive Control Theory” Currently with Sandia National Laboratories |
| David Caballero | Spring 2012, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Currently pursuing Ph.D. degree at University of Washington, Seattle, WA |
| Alan Gostin | Spring 2010, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “A MatLab Based Toolbox for the Simulation and Design of L1 Adaptive Controllers” Currently with NASA Goddard |
| Tyler Leman | Fall 2009, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation “L1 Adaptive Control Augmentation System for the X-48B Aircraft” Currently employed by IntelinAir |
| Riju John | Fall 2009, non-thesis, Virginia Tech Non-thesis option |
| Amanda Young | Spring 2006, Virginia Tech Dissertation “Adaptive Control of Nonaffine Systems with Applications to Flight Control” Awarded William Preston Society MS Thesis award, one award per year for the university in sciences and engineering |
| Amir Ajami | Fall 2005, Virginia Tech Dissertation “Adaptive Flight Control in the Presence of Input Constraints” Currently with the Boeing Co. |
Former Post-Doctoral Fellows and Research Staff
| Dr. Pan Zhao | 2018-2022 Post-Doctoral Fellow Currently on the faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL |
Dr. Hunmin Kim | 2018-2022 Post-Doctoral Fellow Currently on the faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mercer University |
Dr. Yanbin Mao | 2019-2022 Post-Doctoral Fellow Currently on the faculty of Electrical Engineering, Wayne State University |
Dr. Enric Xargay | 2013-2015 Post-Doctoral Fellow Currently working on his startup company |
Dr. Xiaofeng Wang | 2009-2012 Post-Doctoral Fellow Currently on the faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of South Carolina |
Dr. Chengyu Cao | 2004-2008 Research Scientist Currently on the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut |
Dr. Lili Ma | 2005-2008 Post-Doctoral Fellow Currently on the faculty of Department of Computer Engineering Technology, New York City College of Technology |
Dr. Amol Sasane | 2003-2004 Research Scientist Currently on the faculty of London School of Economics |
Dr. Ilhan Tuzcu | 2003-2004 Post-Doctoral Fellow Currently on the Faculty of University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa |
Dr. Konda Reddy | 2005-2006 Post-Doctoral Fellow Currently with UTRC |
Dr. Vijay Patel | 2006-2007 Research Scientist Currently with National Aerospace Laboratory, India |
Former Visiting Scholars
| Jinglan Li | November 2018-November 2019 Zhejiang University, China |
| Weichen Dai | October 2018-November 2018 Zhejiang University, China |
| Yanbing Mao | August 2018-December 2018 Binghamton University–SUNY, NY, USA |
| Yinglong Sun | 2016 Rice University, Houston, TX |
| Jens Dodenhöft | 2015-2016 Technical University of Munich, Germany |
| Lucas de Silva Moreira | 2016 University of Texas El-Paso, USA |
| Ya-Yen Tsai | 2016 University of Melbourne, Australia |
| Sijia Liu | 2014-2015 Beijing Jiaotong University, China |
| Tao Chao | 2013-2014 Harbin Institute of Technology, China, |
| Magnus Bichlmeier | 2012-2014 Technical University of Munich, Germany |
| Niko Tekles | 2012-2014 Technical University of Munich, Germany |
| Danyong Li | 2012-2013 Beijing Jiaotong University, China |
| Dianwei Qian | 2012-2013 North China Electric Power University, China |
| Jie Ma | 2013 Beijing Information Science & Technology University, China |
| Helena Vogel | 2012 MS student, University of Stuttgart, Germany |
| Hessam Mahdianfar | 2012-2013 Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway |
| Giulio Avanzini | 2012 Professor at University of Salento, Italy |
| Michael Christensen | 2012 MS student, Technical University of Denmark |
| Thiago Marinho | 2011 MS student, Ecole Centrale de Lille, France |
| Markus Geiser | 2010 MS student, Technical University of Munich, Germany |
| Sung-Jin Yoo | 2009-2010 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Korea |
| Irene Piacenza | 2009-2010 MS student, Politechnic of Turin, Italy |
| Elisa Capello | 2009 PhD student, Politechnic of Turin, Italy |
| Bruno Guerreiro | 2007-2008 MS student, Dissertation “L1 Adaptive Control for Helicopter” ISR, IST, Lisbon, Portugal |
| Mikhail Poda-Razumtsev | 2003-2004 MS student, Dissertation “Analysis of Parameter Convergence in System Identification and Adaptive Control” Technical University of Munich, Germany |
| Michael Buhl | 2004 MS student, Dissertation “Investigation of Adaptive Control Strategies” Technical University of Munich, Germany |
| Michael Herrnberger | 2004 MS student, Dissertation “Adaptive Vision-based Flight Control combined with Own-ship Maneuvers for Range Estimation” Technical University of Munich, Germany |