Principal Investigator
Contact Information
207 Lab of Mechanics Iowa State University Ames, IA 50011 515-294-5212 soumiks (@) iastate.edu |
Dr. Soumik Sarkar
Associate Professor Ph. D. Mechanical Engineering, Penn State University, 2011 M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Penn State University, 2009 M.S. Mathematics, Penn State University, 2009 B.E. Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, 2006 Dr. Soumik Sarkar received his B. Eng. Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2006 from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. He received M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and M.A. in Mathematics in 2009 from Penn State University. Dr. Sarkar received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State in 2011. He joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2014. Currently he is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science and a Walter W Wilson Faculty Fellow in Engineering. Dr. Sarkar’s research interests include Machine Learning, Sensor Fusion, and Distributed Optimization and Control with applications to complex Cyber-Physical Systems such as aerospace, energy & smart building systems, transportation, design & manufacturing and agriculture systems. He co‐authored more than 202 peer-reviewed publications including 79journal papers and 8 book chapters. Dr. Sarkar is currently serving as an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Robotics and AI: Sensor Fusion and Machine Perception journal, Plant Phenomics, a Science Partner Journal and an NVIDIA DLI University Ambassadorship. He received about $20M federal and private funding over the past seven years at Iowa State. He was selected to be an Iowa state Plant Science Institute scholar in 2018, received the Iowa State College of Engineering Award for Early Achievement in Research in 2019 and the Iowa State University Award for Early Achievement in Research in 2020. Dr. Sarkar is a recipient of the prestigious NSF CISE Career Initiation Initiative (CRII) award in 2015, the Young Investigator award from the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) in 2017 and the NSF CAREER award in 2019. [Google Scholars] [CV] |
Post-doctorate Fellow
Aditya Balu
PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2020 B.E. Hons. Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences, Pilani, 2014 Aditya Balu is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Iowa State University, where he is working on generative designs for organic photovoltaic cells using physics-aware deep learning methodologies. He finished his Ph.D. at Iowa State University on Deep Learning and GPU computing for Design and Manufacturing before this. During his graduate studies, he also interned at ANSYS Inc., where he contributed to Deep Learning-based Topology Optimization. Before his graduate studies, he has also worked at an Oil \& Gas industry, FMC Technologies (now known as Technip FMC), as a product design engineer where he was designing connectors and manifolds for subsea high pressure and high-temperature applications. baditya (@) iastate.edu Personal Website |
Doctoral Students
Koushik Nagasubramanian
B.Tech, Electronics and Communication Engineering, RNSIT, Bangalore, India, 2015. Koushik is a PhD student under joint supervision of Prof. Baskar Ganapathysubramanian and Prof. Soumik Sarkar. He received his undergraduate degree in 2015. After that, he worked at Nubesol Technologies, Bangalore for almost seven months. His research interests include machine Learning, deep learning, and computer vision. Currently, he is working on using deep learning for plant disease prediction. koushikn (@) iastate.edu |
Tryambak Gangopadhyay
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2019 B.E. Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, 2017 Tryambak is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University. He joined Dr. Soumik Sarkar’s lab in Fall 2017. His research interests include designing of deep learning algorithms for large-scale image/video data, multivariate time series data, and text data with applications in healthcare, agriculture, vision, and different cyber-physical systems. He is doing a concurrent Masters in Computer Science. In 2019, as a summer intern at the Machine Learning group of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), he developed deep learning fusion models for clinical prediction tasks using Electronic Health Record datasets. His other interests are story-writing, reading, drawing sketches and playing guitar. tryambak (@) iastate.edu Google Scholar |
Luis G. Riera
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 1997 B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 1995 Luis is a Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering, who joined Dr. Sarkar's lab in August 2017. His research interests are in deep learning, machine learning, visualization, Self-Driven vehicles, including cars, trucks, tractors, and others. Before joining the lab, Luis worked mainly in Project Management and Business Development. His hobbies are racing Go-Kart, baking, Mount Biking and computers. lgriera (@) iastate.edu |
Sin Yong Tan (Evan)
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2017 Sin Yong is currently a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering and joined this lab in Fall 2017. He is currently learning the concept of Machine Learning and will be involved in the Autonomous Rover project, and Robot and Cop project to acquire some hands-on experience on Machine Learning applications. tsyong98 (@) iastate.edu |
Bernard Lee Xian Yeow
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2016 Xian Yeow received his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University in 2016. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree at Iowa State University and his current research interests include applications of reinforcement learning and deep learning methods to engineering problems. xylee (@) iastate.edu |
Russell Kai Liang Tan
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2017 Kai Liang (Russell) is currently a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering and joined Self-aware Complex Systems Lab since Spring 2018. He received his undergraduate degree in Fall 2017 from Iowa State University. During his undergraduate degree, he was an intern for The Bobcat Company and Danfoss Power Solutions. His current research interest includes utilizing Deep Learning, Reinforcement Learning and Computer Vision to solve engineering problems, cyber-physical systems and autonomous systems. His passion for creativity also goes beyond academics, such as photography, digital arts and playing strategic video games. kailiang (@) iastate.edu |
Yasaman Esfandiari
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 2017 B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 2015 Yasaman is a PhD student in mechanical engineering and joined the lab in Fall 2018. Her research interests are dynamics and controls, optimization, machine learning and deep learning. She is currently working on nonconvex robust optimization in deep neural networks with unknown adversaries. Her other activities include playing piano, reading and working out. yasesf (@) iastate.edu |
Fateme Fotouhi Ardakani
M.S. Mechanical engineering, Shiraz University, 2018 B.E. Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, 2015 Fateme Fotouhi is a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering and she joined this lab in Fall 2019. Her M.S. degree was in the field of control and vibration. Her main research interests include machine learning, deep learning, biomechanics, nonlinear control, robotics, mechatronics, and optimizations. She will emphasize in machine learning and deep learning in her Ph.D. thesis. She also interests in playing piano, reading books and mountain climbing. fotouhif (@) iastate.edu |
Joshua Waite
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2019 Joshua is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering, who joined Dr. Sarkar’s lab in Spring 2020. He is currently learning the concepts of machine learning along with gaining hands-on experience. His research interests include machine learning, deep learning, robotics, computer vision, and human-machine interaction. jrwaite (@) iastate.edu |
Ethan Herron
B.S. Mathematics, Iowa State University, 2020 Ethan is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering and joined the Self-aware Complex Systems Laboratory in Summer 2020. He received his B.S. in Mathematics at Iowa State University in Spring 2020. His current research interests are in machine learning, deep learning, and optimization. He is currently working on applying deep learning methods for topology optimization. His other activities include high-powered rocketry, cooking, and various outdoor activities. edherron (@) iastate.edu |
Souradeep Chattopadhyay
B.S. Statistics, University of Calcutta, 2014 M.S. Statistics, University of Calcutta, 2016 Souradeep is currently a PhD student and joined the lab in Spring 2021. He is interested in machine learning especially unsupervised learning methods and its applications to various domains. He has a very deep interest in astronomy and over the past two years have published papers which involve analyzing astronomical data using machine learning methods. His hobbies include singing and reading, his favorite author being Dan Brown. He is also an ardent fan of Sherlock Holmes. soura (@) iastate.edu |
Zahid Hasan
B.S. Electrical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, 2018 Zahid is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University. He joined Dr. Soumik's lab in the Summer 2021 semester. His research interest includes Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Cyber-Physical System design. He is currently working on deep learning and computer vision in intelligent driving applications. His hobbies include cycling, soccer, table tennis, hiking, and photography. zahid (@) iastate.edu |
Jiale Feng
B.S. Automation, University of Science and Technology of China, 2014 B.S. Business Administration, University of Science and Technology of China, 2014 Jiale is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science. He joined the Self-aware Complex Systems Laboratory in Summer 2021. Before that, he worked in ARLab in Virtual Reality Applications Center at ISU for five years, and his main efforts are in individual projects funded by Collins Aerospace. He interned at Collins Aerospace in the summers of 2017 and 2018. His research interests include deep learning, computer vision, and computer graphics. In his spare time, he keeps a consistent workout routine and enjoys playing PC games and watching movies. colour (@) iastate.edu |
Masters Students
Research Students on Independent Studies
Balaji S Sarath Pokuri
Iowa State University Department of Mechanical Engineering Phase Field Modelling, High performance computing(HPC), Finite Element Method(FEM), Machine learning – Deep Learning |
Seyed Vahid Mirnezami
Iowa State University Department of Mechanical Engineering Image Processing, Machine Learning, analyzing plant images data |
Paige K Boor
Iowa State University Department of Mechanical Engineering She is an undergraduate honors student who joined the lab in Spring 2017. She hopes to learn more about Machine Learning. |
Genyi Huang
Iowa State University Department of Statistics LSTM and Attention models for time series prediction problems |
Aakanksha
Amity University Department of Mechanical Engineering Aakanksha is currently a final year undergraduate at Amity University, Noida pursuing Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science. She joined the lab in Summer 2019 and is working on problems involving reinforcement learning. Her research interests include machine learning, deep learning for object detection and computer vision. |
Briton R Bauerly
Iowa State University Department of Mechanical Engineering Briton is currently an undergraduate ME student who joined the lab in summer 2019. His research interests are robotics applications for deep learning and his other interests include 3D printing, tennis, and film. |
Post-doctorate Alumni
Chao Liu
Ph.D. Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics, Tsinghua University, 2013 B.E. Thermal and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 2008 Chao joined the lab in August 2015. His research interests mainly focus on two areas- one is diagnosis, prognosis, and health monitoring, with experiences in feature extraction and selection, fault identification, and remaining useful life prediction by physical model and statistical model; the other is structure dynamics, with experiences in dynamics of structures and rotor systems, development of finite element method applied in dynmics of cracked rotor system, and experimental study on rotor systems. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University. cliu5 (@) iastate.edu [Google Scholars] |
Onur Rauf Bingol
PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2019 MSc, Information Systems, Middle East Technical University, 2014 MSc, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Middle East Technical University, 2010 BSc, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Middle East Technical University, 2007 Onur joined SCS lab in Fall 2019 semester as a Postdoctoral Researcher. During his PhD studies, he has developed a variety of open-source software libraries for computer graphics and computational mechanics, and shared on GitHub. His research interests include computer graphics, computational geometry, high performance computing and robotics. He is currently working as a Software Development Engineer at Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) orbingol (@) iastate.edu Personal Website |
Graduate Alumni
Kin Gwn Lore
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2016 B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2014 Kin has worked on multi-agent systems and implemented machine learning algorithms to solve physical engineering problems. His projects were on network topology control in multi-agent proximity networks, application of Deep Learning models for microfluidic pillar sculpting, low-light image denoising, decision making in cyber-physical systems, and in prognostics and health monitoring. He has a burning passion in creativity - from making digital arts and playing musical instruments to video editing and programming. He graduated from SCS lab in December 2016 and is currently working in United Technologies Research Center at East Hartford, CT, USA. kglore (@) iastate.edu [Google Scholars] [Personal Website] |
Adedotun Akintayo
PhD Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2017 M.S. Control Systems, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, 2014 B.E. Mechanical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, 2009 Adedotun became a member to Dr. Soumik Sarkar's lab in the Fall of 2014. His research interests are in data and systems modelling, computational intelligence, active energy controls in buildings, optimization and combinatorics. He likes to drive around town, interact with people and read. He graduated from SCS lab in December 2017 and is currently working in Intel as a Graphics Software Engineer at Folsom, CA. akintayo (@) iastate.edu [Google Scholars] |
Linjiang Wu
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2018 B.S. Automotive Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, 2012 Linjiang has worked on graphical modeling for cyber-physical systems for engineering problems. His studies are traffic sensor health monitoring, building energy consumption analysis and prediction, and application of Deep Learning techniques for feature extracting and fault detection. He has a passion for automotive engineering and is a well-versed automotive engineer. He graduated from SCS lab in May 2018 and is currently working in Hi-Lex Controls Inc. at Rochester Hills, MI, USA. |
Apurva Kokate
M.S. Computer Science, Iowa State University, 2018 B.E. Computer Engineering, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, 2016 Apurva joined the lab in Spring 2017. She has a passion for Computer Science and is deeply rooted in solving puzzles and developing programs. She focuses herself on the use of technology with a responsible, ethical stand. She hopes to contributing in making machines more intelligent and taking A.I to the next level. In the lab, she hopes to learn and use Machine Learning techniques. She graduated from SCS lab in May 2018. |
Venkatesh Chinde
PhD, Major: Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2018 Minor: Mathematics M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, 2015 M.Tech. Electrical and Electronics Engineering, VJTI, 2010 B.S. Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Auroras Engineering College, 2008 Venkatesh joined SCS lab since Spring 2015. His research interests are on building control systems, distributed optimization, diffusion maps, passivity-based control, flatness-based control and feedback linearization. He likes badminton, tennis, and cooking. He graduated from SCS lab in May 2018 and is currently working in National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as a Research Engineer. vchinde (@) iastate.edu [Google Scholars] [Personal Website] |
Zhanhong Jiang
PhD Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2018 M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2014 B.E. Mechanical Engineering, Shenzhen University, 2011 Zhanhong joined the lab since Fall 2014. His research interests mainly focus on the areas of cyber-physical systems, multi-agent systems, system dynamics, and optimization. His hobbies in daily life include playing tennis, cooking, and reading. He graduated from SCS lab in December 2018 and is currently working as Data Scientist in Johnson Controls, Milwaukee, WI. zhjiang (@) iastate.edu [Google Scholars] |
Sambuddha Ghosal
PhD Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2019 M.S Computer Science, Iowa State University, 2019 M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2017 B.E. Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, 2015 Sambuddha joined the lab in Fall 2015. His research interests are control systems, cyber physical systems, dynamics and optimization, deep learning & machine learning. Recent works include: Anomaly detection in large scale cyber physical systems and application of sparsity promoting dynamic mode decomposition to detect characteristic features and dynamics of complex fluid flows (for eg, combustion flames) from snapshot data. He has interests in playing the piano, playing chess, biking and shooting. He graduated from SCS lab in July 2019 and is currently a post doctorate at MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA. sghosal (@) mit.edu [Google Scholars] |
Truong Tran
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2019 B.E. Mechanical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, 2017 Erasmus Mundus Scholar, 2015 - 2016 Truong is currently a Masters student and has joined the lab since Fall 2017. His research Interests are Computer Vision, Robotics and Software Engineering. He has experience working with embedded computersion system (using C++ with Qt framework) as well as hardware accelerated Machine Learning using GPU clusters (using Tensorflow) and mobile device (using Apple CoreML) . His current work involves applying Machine Learning in Plant Science and 3D reconstruction of Plant using mobile device. In his free time, Truong enjoy Photography and reading novel. He graduated from SCS lab in December 2019 and is currently a Security Analyst at VinCSS. txtran (@) iastate.edu [LinkedIn] |
Zhisheng Zhang
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2019 B.S Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2016 Zhisheng is a Master student in Mechanical Engineering and joined the lab since Spring 2017. His research interests are deep learning and machine learning application to engineering problems. He is currently working on the deep learning application for plant science and agricultural which is based on object classification, localization, and detection. He graduated from SCS lab in July 2019 and is currently working in Bayer Crop Science as a Image Data Scientist, St. Louis, MO. zhisheng (@) iastate.edu |
Ameya Joshi
B.E. Electrical and Electronics Engineering, BITS Pilani, 2014 Ameya is a PhD. student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University jointly supervised by Prof. Soumik Sarkar and Prof. Chinmay Hegde. He received his undergraduate degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani in 2014. He has previously worked at SigTuple technologies, Bengaluru. His research interests include robust machine learning with applications in medicine and manufacturing, distributed learning and cyber-physical systems. He moved to New York University in January 2020 to continue his PhD studies. ameya (@) iastate.edu Personal Website |
Amitangshu Mukherjee
M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, 2020 B.TECH, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Heritage Institute of Technology, 2016 Amitangshu is a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University under joint supervision of Prof. Chinmay Hegde and Prof. Soumik Sarkar. During his undergraduate days he did a couple of industrial internships at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and Siemens India Pvt Ltd. He also worked as a summer research intern at New Jersey Institute of Technology in summer 2015. He joined Dr. Soumik Sarkar’s lab in Fall 2018 and his research interests include Deep Learning, Computer Vision, Generative Modelling, Adversarial Learning with applications in the domain of autonomous vehicles. His other interests include travelling, playing soccer and table tennis, hiking and reading comics. He graduated with M.S. in Computer Engineering in Fall 2019 and is currently pursuing his PhD in Nanoelectronics Research Laboratory, Purdue University. amimukh (@) iastate.edu |
Sambit Gadhai
PhD, Major: Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2020 Comajor: Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, 2020 B.Tech, Industrial and Product Design, NIT Rourkela, 2015 Sambit is a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and joined the lab in Fall 2016. His research interests include cyber-physical systems, cyber-manufacturing, computational geometry, GPU-computing and visualization. He has a keen interest in playing musical instruments and loves to travel and read. He graduated from SCS lab in December 2020 and is currently working in Intel as a Graphics Software Engineer at Folsom, CA. sambitg (@) iastate.edu |
Homagni Saha
PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2021 M.S. Computer Science, Iowa State University, 2021 M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2018 B.Tech Mechanical Engineering, NIT Rourkela, 2016 Homagni joined the lab in Fall 2016. His research interests include probabilistic graphical modelling, reinforcement learning, and anomaly detection. He has a burning passion for robotics and is the go-to guy for any robotics project in the lab. He has worked on design and control of agricultural robots, human computer interaction for turtlebot, and visuo-motor control in sawyer one handed robot. He graduated from SCS lab in May 2021 and is currently working in Danfoss Power Solutions as a Computer Vision Engineer. hsaha (@) iastate.edu Personal Website |
Jaydeep-Ravindra Rade
M.S. Electrical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2020 B.Tech. Electronics Engineering, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, 2018 Jaydeep joined the lab since Spring 2019 under Dr. Soumik Sarkar and Dr. Adarsh Krishnamurthy. His research interests are deep learning and image processing and its applications. He is currently working on Deep Learning for Topology Optimization. Other than academics, he likes music, cooking and travelling. He graduated from SCS lab in December 2020 and is currently a PhD student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Iowa State University under Dr. Adarsh Krishnamurthy and Dr. Anwesha Sarkar. jrrade (@) iastate.edu |
Undergraduate Alumni
Adam Kohl
B.S. Mechanical Engineering Iowa State University, 2015 Undergraduate RA Control-oriented Modelling for Building Zone Temperatures using VOLTTRON Haley Primrose
Nevada High School High School RA Haley is here at our lab through the summer Y.E.S program to learn and work on the manufacturing project where she aims to make the Sawyer robot reach into the 3D printer station and retrieve printed pieces autonomously. As of now, she wants to join Iowa State as a Computer engineering major after graduating high school. Aaron Havens
Iowa State University, 2017 Undergraduate RA |
Abdulrahman Alnagar
Sophomore, Electrical Engineering Undergraduate RA, REU Student Anomaly Detection for Smart Buildings Matthew Hopkins
Abraham Lincoln High School High School RA Matthew is here at our lab through the summer Y.E.S program for 6 weeks to learn more about his interests in engineering. He is working on the Turtle-BOT, programming and testing RGB color values for automated color detection via the bot's vision system as it moves. He is interested in robotics and wants to join a program at Iowa State that will help him build, program and test robotic systems in future. |