Faculty Member, morteza.lahijanian@colorado.edu

PhD Candidate, qi.ho@colorado.edu

Hey there! I’m Qi Heng, PhD student at CU Boulder. My research interests include sequential decision making under uncertainty, formal synthesis for robotics, and the intersection of these fields. I am especially interested in understanding how we can develop time and safety-critical autonomous systems that perform reliably with behavioral guarantees in partially observable and unstructured environments. Previously, I was a research engineer at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Centre, where I worked on developing algorithms for self-driving vehicles. I grew up in Singapore, and completed my undergraduate degree at the National University of Singapore.

PhD Student, rayan.mazouz@colorado.edu

Hi! I’m Rayan, a PhD student in Aerospace Engineering at CU Boulder. My research focuses on developing control strategies and software for safety-critical systems. Specifically, finding optimal control methods that include formal safety specifications using Control Barrier Functions. I obtained my Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. I was a (Fulbright) researcher for two years at the Robotics Section of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where I developed models for astrodynamics applications. I enjoy outdoor activities, with playing soccer being my absolute favorite.

PhD Student, karan.muvvala@colorado.edu

Hey, I am Karan, a Ph.D. student in the Aerospace Engineering Dept. at CU. I did my undergrad in India and Master’s in Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder. At ARIA Systems group, I work on developing theories and algorithms that enable robots to operate safely, robustly, and efficiently in unknown and dynamic environments. Currently, I am working on Synthesizing high-level strategies for a robot operating in the presence of humans using game-theoretic approaches. I have also worked on Verifying the safety of complex systems modeled as neural networks and guaranteeing their safety using Barrier Methods for Safe Autonomy. My current research interest includes Formal Methods, Verification and Planning for Autonomous systems, Game Theory, and Control Theory.

PhD Student, robert.reed-1@colorado.edu

Hello! I’m Robert and I started my Ph.D. in the ARIA Systems Group in Fall 2021. After getting my undergraduate degree at MIT, I spent a few years working as a Controls Engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. My work there expanded my interests in control theory and encouraged me to delve into research for autonomous systems. My research interests include safety verification of systems with unknown dynamics, neural network output verification, and formal synthesis. In my spare time, I like rock climbing, kickboxing, and playing with my dog (though I do that when busy too).

PhD Student, ibon.gracia@colorado.edu

Hey there! I’m Ibón, a first-year PhD student in Aerospace Engineering at CU Boulder. I got my BSc in Aerospace Engineering in the Technical University of Madrid, Spain, and my MSc in Systems & Control in Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. My previous research involved formal strategy synthesis of uncertain systems through Markovian abstractions, obtaining performance guarantees. I also have some experience working as a Flight Control Systems Engineer at Capgemini. My interests include sequential decision-making under uncertainty, formal methods, safety-critical systems and machine learning. In my free time I enjoy playing and listening to music, exercising (specially cycling, fitness, swimming, volleyball, hiking) and watching movies.

PhD Student, peter.amorese@colorado.edu

I am a first year PhD student studying Aerospace Engineering with a focus on autonomous systems at the University of Colorado Boulder. I am passionate about theoretical problems in the field of autonomy and robotics. I received my BS degree from CU Boulder in Aerospace Engineering as well. My personal research is focused on synthesizing a high-level plan that efficiently satisfies a set of task preferences while respecting a user-defined priority for each task. My goal with this research is to extend the high-level reasoning capability of autonomous systems in scenarios where an agent is given multiple tasks to complete.

PhD Student, Chun-Wei.Kong@colorado.edu

Hi I’m a PhD student. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I am interested in pushing the boundaries of space exploration using autonomous systems. I am co-advised by Dr. Jay McMahon.

PhD Student, yusif.razzaq@colorado.edu

Hey! I’m Yusif, a first year PhD student in the Robotics Program at CU Boulder. I received my BS degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from West Virginia University. My research interest involves the implementation of formal methods for robust task and motion planning with applications in the robotics domain. My current research is focused on multi-objective motion planning, aimed at improving the quality of plans along various dimensions. In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, taking road trips, and watching the sun set over the Rockies.

PhD Student, owen.kranz@colorado.edu

Hello! I am a first-year Ph.D. student in the Robotics Department, originally from Medina, Ohio. I earned my B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, where I also founded IrishSat, a student satellite club. Prior to graduate school, I worked for nearly three years at Palski & Associates, Inc., focusing on rendezvous and proximity operations planning and logic development. My research interests center on quantifying the uncertainty between theoretical models and real-world robotic performance, with an emphasis on applying formal methods to ensure safety and robustness.

MS Student, sebastian.escobar@colorado.edu

Hello! I’m Sebastian, a Master’s student in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. I’m in my fifth year of the Bachelor’s–Accelerated Master’s (BAM) Program. I finished my Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Electrical Engineering in May 2025 and I’m currently working on my Master’s in autonomous systems. My research focuses on task planning optimization, specifically developing algorithms to schedule parallelized tasks while respecting temporal dependencies between them: managing precedence constraints, synchronization points, and deadline requirements to optimize overall system performance. Currently I’m working on extending Timed Partial Orders to increase their expressivity without adding complexity for users, since alternative temporal reasoning approaches tend to have steep learning curves. When I’m not working, I enjoy going to the gym, watching movies, and playing basketball.

MS Student, emily.maxwell@colorado.edu

Hello, I’m Emily Maxwell, a current Master’s Student in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at CU Boulder, with plan to pursue a PhD here after the completion of my Master’s. I completed my BS in Computer Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 2025. Before joining the ARIA Systems Group, I did research on explainable machine learning and safe trajectory planning under uncertainty with genetic algorithms. My current research focuses on a human-centered approach to collaboration with autonomous systems, and I am co-advised by Dr. Katya Arquilla. Outside the lab, I hang out with my two cats,—Matcha and Earl—sporadically binge-read books, beat up my husband at Brazilian jiu jitsu, and occasionally slow down enough to play piano.