Director

Nina Mahmoudian, PhD

Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
January 2011 – Present
Office: 1009 MEEM
Phone: (906) 487-3084
Email: ninam@mtu.edu
Ph.D. Aerospace Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2009,
Nonlinear Systems Laboratory (NSL),
Virginia Center for Autonomous Systems (VaCAS).
Research Associate,University of Maryland, 2010,
Collective Dynamics and Control Laboratory (CDCL),
Maryland Robotics Center.
Awards and Honors:
– 2015 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program (YIP) award.
– 2015 National Science Foundation CAREER award
Research Interest:
Nonlinear Control and Dynamics, Autonomous Systems, Cyber-physical Systems, Cooperative Control of Multi Agent Systems.

Research Engineer

Barzin Moridian

M.S. Mechanical Engineering – Michigan Tech, 2014
Projects:
– Robotic Systems: Developing autonomous navigation systems, sensor fusion, dynamic modeling, and feedback controllers for unmanned ground vehicles and aerial vehicles.
– Mobile Microgrid: Developing an autonomous mobile microgrid for establishment of power in hard-to-reach locations.
– Mission planning for heterogeneous group of robots: Mission planning and scheduling for a group of collaborative robots with different performance characteristics and tasks.
barzinm.com
LinkedIn Profile

PH.D. Researchers

Donna Fard

M.S. Naval Architecture-Hydro Mechanics, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 2007
Projects:
GUPPIE Educational test bed: Utilizing an underwater robot (GUPPIE) for educational purposes for middle/high school students
ROUGHIE great lake research robot: Control system design, sensor integration, data acquisition, analysis and simulation.
Expected Graduation Date: Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, 2017
LinkedIn Profile

Bingxi Li

M.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Toledo, 2013
Projects:
-Designing a timing strategy to maintain a group of operating robots working continuously through the support of a team of charging robots. The goal is to maintain the surveillance mission of a given area using the least energy consumption or shortest mission period.
-Dynamic modelling of various types of the vehicle, mainly for underground vehicle on the road surface. The model describes how the vehicle’s components will respond to excitation under different conditions.
Before joining NAS Lab, Bingxi used to work in the Dynamic and Smart Systems Lab in ME department, The University of Toledo as an RA, conducting research on the position control of the smart material actuators using dSPACE Real-Time Interface and MATLAB. Proficiently manipulating sensors and instruments such as encoder, power supply, and laser sensor.
Expected Graduation Date: Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, 2018
LinkedIn Profile

John Naglak

B.S. in Engineering – Fort Lewis College, 2014
John is a new PHD student in Mechanical Engineering, coming to Michigan Tech after working in industry at AMPT, a hot-test hypergolic rocket engine testing company in Durango, Colorado. He worked on passive ocean sampling platforms as an undergraduate student.
Expected graduation: PhD Mechanical Engineering, 2021

Brian Page

B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Michigan Tech
Development of ROUGHIE mechanical and control systems.
Brian is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering focusing on robotics systems development. He has experience in developing complex mechanical systems and the controllers that support them. Brian’s current research focus is on development of the ROUGHIE mechanical system to have increased functionality and ease of use. He received a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in 2013 and will be going to the Los Alamos Dynamics Summer School in 2015.
Expected graduation: PhD Mechanical Engineering, 2019

Anthony Pinar

M.S. in Electrical Engineering – Michigan Tech, 2014
Project: Development of the electrical distribution and actuator interface systems for ROUGHIE (underwater glider).
Anthony is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan Technological University. His current research areas include machine learning, image processing, computational intelligence, and small-scale power distribution systems for autonomous robots. He spent a few years as an electrical design engineer at GE Aviation where he designed many circuit boards and electrical assemblies ranging from small rack-mounted electrical trays to multi-bay rack systems, and now he uses his design experience to help with NAS Lab solutions and various freelance projects.
Expected graduation: PhD Spring 2017

Nathan Spike

B.S. Mechanical Engineering St. Cloud State University 2016
Nathan is a first year PhD Student currently working with Clearpath’s Husky robot implementing new sensor packages.
Expected graduation: PhD  Mechanical Engineering, 2021

Undergraduate Researchers

Matthew Gustman

Mechanical Engineering
Expected Graduation: Fall 2017 or Spring 2018

Patrick Morath

Electrical Engineering
Expected Graduation: Spring 2018

Vilnis Stumbris

Mechanical Engineering
Expected Graduation: Fall 2018