Associate Professor
I am an associate professor at UPenn’s GRASP lab, with a primary appointment in CIS, and a secondary appointment in ESE. I lead the Perception, Action, and Learning (PennPAL) Research Group, where we work on problems at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and computer vision.
Research Statement: My research statement, last updated Aug 2025, explains our research vision.
Teaching: In Fall 2025, I am teaching CIS 4190 / 5190 Applied Machine Learning. Here are the past courses I have taught.
For prospective masters and undergraduate students
If you're an undergraduate or MS student interested in collaborating with our PennPAL research group, please complete this form. We monitor responses regularly, and will reach out to you if there's an opening.For prospective PhD students
I expect to recruit strong PhD students for Fall ’27, subject to continuing availability of funds.
PhD admissions at Penn are handled centrally through the university’s programs, not through direct contact with prospective advisors. Applications are due December 15 each year for admission the following Fall. I typically start speaking with prospective students for evaluation purposes only after formal applications are in, and in most years I only have time to carefully review applications that list me as a prospective advisor, in either CIS or ESE.
Many applicants also email me, either to share information that is hard to convey in the formal application or to express particular interest in my group. Because such emails are difficult to track by the time I make admissions decisions, I ask that you use this prospective PhD student form instead. It is entirely optional: submitting it or not will not by itself count for or against you, though I will consider any relevant information it adds to your application.
In the meantime, to learn more about my group, see this page and our PennPAL research group page, which I keep up to date with recent research statements, talks, etc. You are also welcome to reach out to my PhD students to get a sense for how the group works. If you still need more information and must speak with me urgently before the application deadline, you may email me and I will try to find time, though I may not be able to respond to every message.
Emailing me
I receive a lot of email and find it difficult to respond to them all. I will try to get to your email sooner if you are enrolled at Penn and either: (1) a student in a class I am instructing (most communication would be appropriate on the Ed forum, unless you specifically want to avoid TA eyes; if you're sure you need to email me, start subject with "[<course number> student]", e.g. "[CIS 4190 student]"), or (2) assigned to me as an advisee (start email subject with "[Student Advisee]").
Funding & Support
Our work is possible thanks to the support of:
