Safe and Efficient Autonomous Systems (SEAS) Lab

PhD students

Haosong Xiao (Fall 2024)

MS students

Harsh Bhargava (Thesis Fall 2024)
Rishabh Shukla (Thesis Fall 2024)
Minaj Ahmed Sheikh (Project Summer 2024)

Alumni

Sai Sharan Thirunagari (Summer 2024)

To Perspective Students

I am looking for highly motivated students to join my lab.

To Perspective PhD students

There are fully funded positions in my group.

If interested please send me an email with subject “[Inquiry on PhD positions]”, attach your detailed CV, representative publications or writing samples (if any), transcripts, GRE/TOEFL score (if applicable), and a brief statement of interest. If I see there is a great research match I will reply and encourage you to submit an application.

Perspective student should follow the application instructions for the PhD program at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UB. Please note that the PhD program with UB MAE department is rolling based and the perspective student may apply and be admitted throughout the year.

To Current UB MS students

If you are interest in working on a Thesis with me, please email me with you CV, transcripts, and brief describe your research interest. A master's thesis is a collaboration where the faculty advisor is very involved to the point of multiple meetings a week. I expect publications to come from this work and for there to be a significant contribution. Therefore, we expect a continuous commit of a full year (e.g., 2 semesters + summer).

To Current UB Undergraduate students

We advertise our lab on the Experiential Learning Network (ELN) Project Portal. Please follow the instruction there and get in touch with us through an introductory email.

Tips on research

(Credits to Prof. Ryan St. Pierre with some minor updates. It applies to research anywhere in the world. Please read it through and then contact me about research.)

Do your homework. Which part of the research in our lab that interest you most? Why do they interest you?

Research is challenging. It is highly nonlinear! You may see the final product of research, a video or figure that really captures the goal. What you don’t see are the often many days (or even nights) of no results, with ups and downs, to get to that. Therefore, choose a project that interests you, with a clear goal, and something you will enjoy. This will help get through some of the less than productive research times.

Talk to people. You learn the most from your peers. Everyone has a unique skill set and you can learn the tools that someone else has for your project, and even offer advice of your own. Explain your research to your peers so that they understand, and get feedback.

Manage your time and expectations. Classes take time, research takes time, and you cannot possibly work in the lab every waking moment. Plan your time and make a schedule.

Document your work. The highest goal in research is to have others use what you have done. They can’t do this if you don’t write (or type) it down. This will make disseminating your results (e.g. conference talks or proceedings, journal articles, etc.) easier in the end.

Research is hard. New research directions typically means that the original goal is not always successful. Trial and errors, back and forth are expected. Usually, motivation, creativity, and hard work are what lead to success, not talent.