Students & Alumni

The research group

I have had the privilege of working with a remarkable group of students and postdocs across UCSB, CU Boulder, and Caltech. Many have gone on to faculty positions and research roles in industry.

Current PhD Students

  • Yohan John 2022 – presentCo-advised with Francesco Bullo
  • Vade Shah 2021 – presentNSF Graduate Research Fellow
  • Ethan Freifeld 2025 – presentCo-advised with Mahnoosh Alizadeh
  • Madelyn Shapiro 2025 – present

Current Postdoctoral Researchers

  • Dr. Aya Hamed 2026 – present

Incoming Students

  • Cayetana Salinas Rodriguez Joining 2026From Georgia Tech · co-advised with Tobia Marcucci
  • Wu Zheyu Joining 2026From ETH Zürich · co-advised with Mahnoosh Alizadeh

Former PhD Students & Postdocs

  • Dr. Gilberto Diaz-Garcia PhD 2026, UCSB
  • Dr. Rohit Konda PhD 2024, UCSB
  • Dr. Bryce Ferguson PhD 2024, UCSBAssistant Professor, Dartmouth College
  • Dr. Adel Aghajan Postdoc 2022–2023, UCSB
  • Dr. Rahul Chandan PhD 2022, UCSBResearch Scientist, Amazon Robotics
  • Dr. Keith Paarporn Postdoc 2018–2022, UCSBCo-advised with Mahnoosh Alizadeh
  • Dr. David Grimsman PhD 2021, UCSBAssistant Professor, BYU
  • Dr. Dario Paccagnan Postdoc 2019–2020, UCSBImperial College London (co-advised with F. Bullo)
  • Brian Canty MS 2019, UCSBCo-advised with Mahnoosh Alizadeh
  • Dr. Philip N. Brown PhD 2018, UCSBAssociate Professor, UC Colorado Springs
  • Dr. Holly Borowski PhD 2016, CU Boulder
  • Dr. Vinod Ramaswamy Postdoc 2015–2016, CU Boulder
  • Matthew Phillips MS 2015, CU Boulder
  • Dr. Ragavendran Gopalakrishnan PhD 2013, Caltech; Postdoc 2013–2015, CU Boulder
  • Yassmin Shalaby MS 2014, CU Boulder
  • Dr. Na Li PhD 2013, CaltechProfessor, Harvard SEAS
  • Dr. Shalom Ruben Postdoc 2011–2012, CU Boulder
  • Matthew Kirchner MS 2012, CU Boulder

For Prospective Students

I welcome inquiries from students with a strong mathematical background and a deep interest in game theory, control, optimization, or learning. Prospective PhD students should apply directly through the UCSB ECE graduate program and are encouraged to mention their research interests in their application.