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
Yohan John
2022 – present
Co-advised with Francesco Bullo
Control theory, operations research & optimization; multi-robot surveillance, industrial refrigeration
Website Scholar LinkedIn
Vade Shah
Vade Shah
2021 – present
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Game theory & optimization; energy systems, inventory control, decentralized markets
Website Scholar
Ethan Freifeld
Ethan Freifeld
2025 – present
Co-advised with Mahnoosh Alizadeh
Optimization & control; industrial refrigeration, energy systems, inventory control
Website
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Madelyn Shapiro
2025 – present

Current Postdoctoral Researchers

Dr. Aya Hamed
Dr. Aya Hamed
Postdoc, 2026 – present
Game theory, multi-agent systems & distributed optimization
Scholar

Incoming Students

Cayetana Salinas Rodriguez
Cayetana Salinas Rodriguez
Joining 2026
Co-advised with Tobia Marcucci
From Georgia Tech · game theory, control theory & autonomy; multi-agent systems
Scholar LinkedIn
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Wu Zheyu
Joining 2026
Co-advised with Mahnoosh Alizadeh
From ETH Zürich

Undergraduate Researchers

Lily Chen
Lily Chen
Undergraduate Researcher
Data science, optimization & control theory applications
Website

Recent Alumni

Dr. Gilberto Diaz-Garcia
Dr. Gilberto Díaz-García
PhD 2026 · Co-advised with Francesco Bullo
Distributed control, game theory & multi-robot surveillance; networked contest games
Website Scholar
Dr. Rohit Konda
Dr. Rohit Konda
PhD 2024 · Algorithm Engineer, BlackVe
Multi-agent systems, game-theoretic optimization & industrial refrigeration control
Website Scholar
Dr. Bryce Ferguson
Dr. Bryce Ferguson
PhD 2024 · Assistant Professor, Dartmouth
Information & incentives in multi-agent systems; congestion games, price of anarchy
Website Scholar

Earlier Alumni

  • Dr. Adel Aghajan Postdoc 2022–2023, UCSBPostdoctoral Scholar, UCSD
  • Dr. Rahul Chandan PhD 2022, UCSBResearch Scientist, Amazon Robotics
  • Dr. Keith Paarporn Postdoc 2018–2022, UCSBAssistant Professor, UC Colorado Springs
  • 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, UCSB
  • 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 Philips 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.