People & Robots

Tom Silver received his PhD from MIT (EECS) in 2024, where he was advised by Leslie Kaelbling and Josh Tenenbaum. His research is at the intersection of machine learning and planning with applications to robotics and often uses techniques from task and motion planning, program synthesis, and neuro-symbolic learning. Before graduate school, he was a researcher at Vicarious AI and received his B.A. from Harvard with highest honors in computer science and mathematics in 2016. He has also interned at Google Research (Brain Robotics) and the Boston Dynamics AI Institute.

Rishabh's research interests are in leveraging robot learning for decision-making under uncertainty to enable assistive robots. He received his B.Tech. in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.

Rajat's research interests are in human-robot interaction and machine learning. Rajat received his B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kharagpur.

Ruolin is a 2nd-year PhD student in the Computer Science department. She graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University with B.Eng. in Information Engineering in 2022. Her research interest lies in simulation and multi-agent collaboration. Outside of research, she is an amateur bartender and painter.

Rohan is a 4th-year PhD student in the Computer Science department. His research interests lie generally in the area of robust, learning-based sequential decision-making for robotics, with the goal of building learning-based systems that respect human preferences. Outside of research, he likes reading, writing, playing musical instruments, and exploring Ithaca.

Ziang is a 1st-year PhD student in the Computer Science department. His research aims to build robots that perceive, understand, reason, and interact in the physical world to better assist people with day-to-day tasks, leveraging inspiration from human cognition. He obtained a M.S. in CS from Stanford University in 2023, a B.S. in CS and a B.S. in Applied Math from University of Southern California in 2021. He loves skiing, birding, hiking, photography, and everything about nature.

Pranav is a 1st year PhD student in Aerospace Engineering working on robot-assisted dressing for everyday clothing. He graduated from IIT Bombay with a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, and was previously part of the robot vision team at Honda R&D Life Creation Center in Wako, Japan. Outside of work, he learns jazz piano and enjoys hiking, picnics and metal music.

Ben Dodson graduated from Cornell University majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Computer Science. He is an MEng student in Mechanical Engineering. He is interested in robotic design and construction as well as the integration between hardware and software. In his free time, he likes to rock climb and hang out with friends.

Yunting is an MS student in Mechanical Engineering. His research interests include Human-Robot Interaction, control, and Artificial Intelligence. Outside of academics, he enjoys cooking and playing badminton.

Shiqin is an MS student in health informatics at Cornell University (Weill Cornell Medicine). She received her first master's degree (Artificial Intelligence Systems) from the National University of Singapore. She received her B.S. in Software Engineering from Dalian University of Technology (China). Outside of academics, she has been passionate about figure skating and has previously served as a teaching assistant for skating classes in some commercial ice rinks in china.

Karan graduated from Cornell University majoring in Physics and minoring in CS and MechE. He is currently pursuing a masters in Computer Science, focusing on robotics and machine learning, at Cornell. His research interests lie in the intersection of Robotics, Machine Learning, and Physics. Outside of research and academics, he enjoys reading books, playing soccer, hanging out with friends, listening to music, and doing photography!

Ajay Sunkara graduated from Cornell University with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Computer Science. He is an MEng student in Mechanical Engineering and is interested in controls and reinforcement learning in robotics. Outside of school, he enjoys playing basketball and reading.

Sherry is a Junior studying Electrical and Computer Engineering and minoring in Robotics. She is panning to pursue a PhD in robotics or related fields. She is also a songwriter and the guitarist of Night Espresso band.

Sarah is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science. Her current interests are in simulating autonomous vehicles and she is currently a software member of Cornell University Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. Outside of academics, she enjoys drawing, playing video games, and playing the bass guitar.

Bohan is a junior year CS student at Cornell University, who is passionate about machine learning and utilizing AI to improve humanity in a whole. His research interests lies in multimodal machine learning, human-robot interaction, and 3D reconstruction. In his free time, he watches Premier League and plays piano.

Eric is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science. He is interested in robotics, and particularly helping robots interact with humans and the world more naturally. He plans to pursue a Ph.D in robotics or a related field. He also enjoys playing video games, piano and watching interesting YouTube videos.

Justin is a junior undergrad student majoring in Computer Science. His research interests primarily lie in machine learning and robotics, as well as applying best software engineering practices. Outside of class, he loves learning to cook Asian dishes with his trusty wok and can be found jamming out to music, no matter the setting.

Anthony is a 2nd year undergrad student majoring in Computer Science. His research interests primarily lie in machine learning and robotics, but he is also interested in hardware and computer architecture. Outside of class, you can find him on the basketball court, bingeing on Netflix, or eating chicken tenders.

Krishna is a junior majoring in Computer Science, whose interests lie at the intersection of Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Data Science, and Entrepreneurship. He wants to combine these with Software Engineering to create a positive impact in our world. He is planning to pursue an M.Eng in Computer Science to further explore these areas. Outside of school, you will you find him painting, learning to cook, and mindlessly scrolling through Instagram reels and YouTube shorts.

Joyce is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Economics. Her interests lie in human-robot interaction and using robots to assist humans with daily living activities in home environments. Outside the lab, Joyce is currently a member of Cornell Data Science, and her hobbies include playing volleyball, watching stand-up comedy, and coding to movie soundtracks.

Qiandao is a freshman majoring in CS and minoring in Data Science, he is intresting in robot assistant human dressing. Outside academics, he is an old school photographer, a professional backpacking vagrant, a birder, an excellent chef and a Cyberpunk 2077 enthusiast.

Amber is a sophomore majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering and minoring in Computer Science. She is interested in assistive robotics and brining about positive change. Outside of academics, she enjoys spending time with friends, eating good food, and playing video games. She also loves playing sports, but doesn't have much time to nowadays. She is open to playing tennis, ping pong, and other fun activities.

Andres Blanco is an undergraduate senior in Mechanical Engineering at Cornell University interested in robotics planning and control. He worked at Amazon Robotics this Spring on serial link arm trajectory generation. Right now he is working on contact-rich planning for robotic arms via the lab.

Moustafa Kassem is an undergraduate sophomore double majoring in Applied Engineering Physics and Computer Science at Cornell. His academic interests lie in the intersection of machine learning, signal processing, and optics, particularly in their applications to biomedical devices and sensing. In his free time, he enjoys reading, playing basketball, and watching movies.

Shao Stassen is an undergraduate junior majoring in CS at Cornell University. His academic passions lie at the intersection of robotic control, machine learning, and computer vision, with a particular interest in leveraging these technologies to develop innovative robotic solutions that positively impact communities and improve quality of life. Outside of school, Shao enjoys outdoor running and reading books.

Shuaixing Chen is a junior undergraduate student from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, majoring in Electrical Engineering and Automation. His research interest lies in Embodied AI, multi-agent intelligence and robot collaboration with LLM. He enjoys watching old black-and-white movies and reading classic philosophy books.

Angchen is a junior undergraduate student majoring in Automation at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research interests include robot perception and decision-making processes, and he is eager to explore real robot hardware and human-robot interaction (HRI). In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, singing, and playing chess.

Yuting is pursuing an MS in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Michigan, building on her solid design foundation from the Savannah College of Art and Design (BFA). With expertise in user experience research, she focuses on creating user-centric designs that seamlessly connect technology and human experience. Her research spans human-computer interaction, human-centered privacy and security, and health technology. Yuting is passionate about how thoughtful design can empower users. With over 10 years of experience in Chinese calligraphy, she blends creativity and precision in her work. Outside of research, Yuting enjoys working out, practicing Pilates, and is aiming to complete a marathon soon.

Claire(Yuanchen) is a research intern at Cornell University. Previously, she was a full-time Research Assistant at Tsinghua University, IIIS. Her research interests primarily lie in 3D Vision and Robot Manipulation.