PEOPLE
The research group of the Unmanned Vehicles Robotarium Systems lab is mainly composed of researchers, scientific personnel and graduate (Ph.D. and M.Sc.) students. Since its creation in 2004, the Lab has trained several students working on diverse areas of unmanned vehicle systems. If you would like to know about our past projects and the students that worked on such developments please check our "Former Students" webpage.
The current team members of the lab are listed below ( R&D Fellows: 3 ; Ph.D.: 9 ; M.Sc.: 4 ; B.Sc.: 3 ):
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Alex Ramirez-Serrano, P.Eng.
Professor / Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering / Director UVS Robotarium Lab.
Office: MEB-523
Laboratory (Robotarium): EEEL-124 & EEEL-125
Certifications:
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Post-Doc, Control & Robotics - Argonne National Laboratory - U.S.A. (2002)
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Ph.D., Mechanical & Industrial Eng - University of Toronto (UofT) - Canada (2000)
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M.Sc., Computer Science - Artificial Intelligence - Monterrey Tech (ITESM) - Mexico (1996)
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M.Sc., Mechanical & Aerospace Eng - Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) - U.S.A. (1993)
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B.Sc., Mechanical Engineering - Univ. Autonoma Metropolitana (UAM) - Mexico (1992)
Post-doctoral / R&D Fellows:
In search for a student
09/2025-???
Project: State estimation formulations for hybrid robots with compliant joint targeted to be deployed inside confined spaces.
In search for a student
09/2025-???
Project: Locomotion planning and control for multi-legged robots moving inside chaotic natural and disaster confined spaces.
Ph.D. Students
Abdallah Dayhoum
09/2022-present
Thesis: Unsteady Aerodynamics of Rotary Wings.
Non-linear unsteady aerodynamic investigation of rotary wings.
Mahyar Ashkvari
05/2022-present
Thesis: Full-body motion planning of hybrid robots
Modeling, control, and planning of search & rescue multi-legged robots for confined spaces.
Hossein Keshavarz
05/2021-present
Thesis: Perceptive whole-body planning.
Whole-body planning for multi-legged robots in 3D confined unstructured confined spaces.
Chanhong Park
01/2022-to start
Co-supervisor: Dr. Mahdis Bisheban
Thesis: Control of highly maneuverable VTOL.
Control/Path planning of thrust vectoring drones for operation in GPS-denied confined spaces.
Amir Gholami
01/2021-present
Thesis: Multi-contact control of legged robots.
Control of acrobatic biped & quadruped robots operating in unstructured spaces.
Liam Rene Roy
05/2024-present
Supervisors: Dr. D. Kulic, Dr. E. Croft,
Student at Monash Univ, Australia
Thesis: LLM-generated Nonverbal Expressions:
To communicate functional states for improved human-robot collaboration.
Wei Jia
09/2025-present
Project: Locomotion & manipulation control of humanoid robots via advance body posture adaptation.
M.Sc. Students
Melina Varguez R.
01/2020-present
Student in BIomendical Eng.
Thesis: Bio-engineering humanoid motions.
Develop bio-engineering motion adaptation approaches for humanoids maneuvers.
Stefan Van de Mosselaer
09/2023-present
Thesis: Aggressive locomotion of legged robots.
Aggressive locomotion for high-speed 14+ DOF quadruped robots to overcome large obstacles
In search for student
09/2025-???
Thesis: Locomotion failures of humanoid robots.
Develop motion strategies to enable humanoid robots learn how to fall without damage.
B.Sc. Students
Allan G. Ochoa
6/30/2025-9/19/2025
Project: Software for humanoid robots.
Develop joystick control of a life-size humanoid robot via ROS.
Luis F. Torres M.
6/30/2025-9/19/2025
Project: Develop of ROS software quadrupeds.
Development of ROS packages for the locomotion of high-speed quadruped robot.
“Nothing is impossible !"
In this research lab. we aim to develop technologies to ensure that unmanned vehicles can deal with unexpected situations (changes, errors, etc.) or tasks that challenge their sensing, modeling, planning, adaptation, or movement envelopes.
We are working to realize fully autonomous robots with effective human-robot interaction capabilities
for operations in unstructured hazardous confined GPS-denied spaces.
Dr. Alex Ramirez-Serrano
Director of the Unmanned Vehicles Robotarium laboratory