People

People make HILS.

Our group brings together mechanical engineering, robotics, AI, human factors, neuroergonomics, and health applications.

Principal Investigator

Ehsan T. Esfahani

Ehsan T. Esfahani, PhD

Associate Professor · Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering · University at Buffalo

Dr. Esfahani directs HILS, where his research focuses on human–robot interaction, human–AI teaming, neuroergonomics, AI for human health and performance, and intelligent robotic systems.

Current Members

PhD Students

Kristian Dalland

Kristian Dalland

PhD Candidate

Human performance and cognitive metric estimation for multi-human-agent operations.

Hamid Manuchehri

Hamid Manuchehri

PhD Candidate

Compliant adjustment and contact-aware object manipulation using reinforcement learning.

Mandar Payare

Mandar Payare

PhD Student

Contact-informed in-hand manipulation and tactile robotic systems.

M.S. Students

Tim CallahanM.S. Student · 2026–Present
Dylan ZelkoM.S. Student · 2026–Present

Collaborators

Research Collaborators

Souma Chowdhury

Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University at Buffalo

Karthik Dantu

Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
University at Buffalo

Chen Wang

Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
University at Buffalo

Maxim Bichuch

Associate Professor of Mathematics
University at Buffalo

Alumni

PhD Alumni

2026

Krushang Khimjibhai Gabani

Software Engineer, Amazon Frontier AI & Robotics, San Francisco, CA

2024

Joseph Distefano

Software Engineer, Squire Solutions, Rochester, NY

2022

Sri Sadhan Jujjavarapu

Principal Research Associate, Accenture Labs, San Francisco, CA

2020

Hemnath Manjunatha

Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK

2018

Amir Baghdadi

Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Entefy, San Francisco, CA

2018

Amirhossein H. Memar

Manager Research Scientist, Meta Reality Labs, Redmond, WA

2017

Mostafa Ghobadi

Senior Systems Engineer, Laza Medical, San Jose, CA

M.S. Alumni
Name / YearThesis or ProjectCurrent Position
Jason Bieger2026Automated denesting system for cheese packagingMechanical Engineer, Apech Labs, Buffalo, NY
Shubham Deomane2025Robotic packaging solution for pharmaceutical applicationsTechnical Program Manager, Auto-FC, Los Angeles, CA
Pranoti Guruprasad Patwardhan2024Design of compliant fractal-based robotic gripper
Sai Sharan Thirunagari2024Automated robotic solution for enhancing surfactant extraction from calf lungRobotics Engineer, Meta Reality Labs, Seattle, WA
Ashish Kumar Singh2023Human-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop simulation for urban air mobilityEngineering Specialist, Caterpillar Inc., Clayton, NC
Kristian Dalland2022Gesture recognition for diver-robot interactionsPhD Student, University at Buffalo
Robert Lott2022Human-in-the-loop simulation for manufacturing settingsAseptic Mentor, Grand Island, NY
Yuhi Ji2022Vision-based object tracking for manipulation in confined spaceAseptic Mentor, Grand Island, NY
Supreet Kurdekar2021Enhancing human performance in assembly using augmented realityPositioning and Control Engineer, Caterpillar, Peoria, IL
Nihar Patel20216D object pose estimation for robot manipulationProject Engineer, Tesla Gigafactory, Sparks, NV
Abhinaba Basu2021Active ankle-foot orthosis based on variable-stiffness actuatorsR&D Engineer, Natus Medical, San Diego, CA
Chaitanya B. Thammineni2021Human-in-the-loop learning through gaze augmentationSenior Software Engineer, Wisework, Bengaluru, India
Rammya Arunachalam Iyer2021Object pose estimation and segmentationAssociate Software Engineer, JPMorgan Chase, Seattle, WA
Apurvakumar Jani2020Interactive shape control of robotic swarm using GIS-based shape modelAdvanced Robotics Software Engineer, Symbotic, Boston, MA
Rakesh Suresh Kumar2020Fatigue detection in human–robot collaborationDesign Quality Engineer, Medtronic, Irvine, CA
Abhikul Kumar Singh2020Magnetic gripper design modification based on ISO/TS 15066Manufacturing Engineer, Zimmer Biomet, Warsaw, IN
Kuber Reddy Gorantla2018Motor-control features for surgical skill assessmentSenior Research Scientist, Siemens, Princeton, NJ
Ajaipal Singh Chhina2018Augmented reality for 3D CAD object creationSystem Data Engineer, Zoox, San Francisco, CA
Peeyush Firodiya2018Simulation of automated pick-and-place in convenience storesNew Product Development Team Lead, Crane ChemPharma & Energy, Cincinnati, OH
Jingzhi Wang2017Cell-boundary and adherens-junction detection using level setsSoftware Engineer, Wyze Labs, Seattle, WA
Sivakiran Ayyagari2017Task-difficulty classification in free-hand movement via BCISoftware Developer II, ANSYS, Pittsburgh, PA
Sri Sadhan Jujjavarapu20172D haptic system with passive variable stiffness for upper-limb rehabilitation
Amit N. Mana2017Multimodal CAD interface using sketch, speech, and brain dataAI Engineer, Elevance Health, Palo Alto, CA
Fei Chen2017Augmented reality for workforce trainingHardware Engineer, ServiceNow, Dallas, TX
Yuxiang Chen2017Ground-reaction-force estimation in gait using wearable sensorsSoftware Engineer, LinkedIn, San Francisco, CA
Yang Yu2016Sketch-based tutorial system for drawing free-body diagrams
Hongfei Lin2015Design of a variable-stiffness gripperMechanical Design Engineer, ASM, Chengdu, China
Zhiqing Zhao20153D mesh segmentation with SVM and boundary correctionBusiness Analyst, Anthem Healthcare, Elkridge, MD
Azadeh DinparastDjadid2015Spike sorting via multi-cluster feature selectionSenior Research Scientist, Waymo, Mountain View, CA
Shrey Pareek2015Cognitive adaptation for human–computer interactionComputer Vision Lead Scientist, Cargill; Adjunct Professor, University of St. Thomas
Po Sheng Wang2015Kernel-based support vector machine for human-emotion detectionSoftware Engineer, Thomson Reuters, Dallas, TX
Vaibhav Sharma20153D-printing parameter selection and design for non-expert usersStaff Mechanical Engineer, NPI, Hayward, CA
Chen Qian2014Controlling Google Glass via brain activityChina Sales Leader, Baker Hughes, Shanghai, China
Rohit Bhat2014Brain activity for ambiguity reduction of touch gestures in 3D CADMechanical Design Engineer, Powerside, Vancouver, BC
Undergraduate Alumni
Sabrina Johnson2024

CSTEP Internship

Robert Lian2022–2023

Mechanical Engineering research

Joseph Distefano2018–2019

Undergraduate research; later HILS PhD

Joaquin L. Diez2017

Industrial Engineer, Innsbruck, Austria

Margaret Lawn2013–2015

Guidance Navigation and Control Engineer, JHU Applied Physics Laboratory

Brian Le Folch2013–2015

Flight Dynamics and Simulation Engineer, Overair

Chameseddine Mballo2013–2015

Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Berkeley

Yi Jui Lee2015–2016

Graduate Student, University of British Columbia

James Rogers2013

Senior Product Engineer, MAHLE Manufacturing

Frank Repetti2013–2014

Senior Design Engineer, Eaton Mission Systems