CV

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Education

• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering - Robotics, minor in Computer Science, Stony Brook University, 2026
  • Thesis: Sensor-Based Task-Oriented Grasping
  • Advisor: Dr. Nilanjan Chakraborty
• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 2019
  • Thesis: Grasping Force Optimization while considering Hand Capabilities and Object-Environment Contact
• B.E. in Mechanical Engineering, Savitribai Phule Pune University, 2016 (First Class with Distinction)

Work experience

• Postdoctoral Associate (August 2026 - Present)
  • Associated with: The Soft Flyers Group, Stony Brook University
  • Research on multimodal aerial and underwater vehicles.
  • Research on robotic manipulation and planning.
• Research Assistant (June 2020 - July 2026)
  • Associated with: Interacting Robotic Systems Laboratory, Stony Brook University
  • Grasping and Optimization: Formulated a novel task-dependent grasp metric as a Second-Order Cone Program (SOCP) to evaluate grasps (antipodal and multifingered) based on their feasibility to impart the desired motion after grasping. Proposed formulation incorporates object-environment contact and dynamics without approximating the friction cone.
  • Grasp Synthesis: Developed novel analytical and data-driven approaches for task-oriented grasp (regrasp) synthesis directly from sensor data while considering the motion to be imparted to the object.
  • Constrained Planning: Developed novel motion planning, force planning, and trajectory optimization approaches incorporating environmental contact constraints. Research on utilizing the screw-geometric structure of motion for constrained manipulation, providing robots with self-evaluation capabilities, incremental acquisition of kinesthetic demonstrations, motion generalization and task planning.
  • Perception and Manipulation: Engineered a perception and manipulation stack using ROS in Python and C++, integrating state-of-the-art deep learning-based perception alongside novel screw geometry-based methods for manipulation.
  • Foundation Models for Task and Motion Planning: Exploring the integration of foundation models, such as VLMs and LLMs, with screw geometry-based approaches to enhance a robot’s task planning capabilities, particularly for tasks involving end-effector motion constraints.
  • Dexterous Manipulation: Conducting active research to develop dexterous manipulation capabilities for mobile manipulators and humanoids, by bridging geometric constraint modeling with data-driven approaches.
  • Supervisors: Dr. Nilanjan Chakraborty, Dr. CR Ramakrishnan and Dr. IV Ramakrishnan
• Robotics and Embodied AI PhD Fellow (Intern) (June 2025 - August 2025)
  • Associated with: GE Aerospace Research, Niskayuna, NY, USA
  • Part of the Autonomous Systems Research Group at GE Aerospace Research.
  • NVIDIA Robotics Stack Validation: Evaluated state-of-the-art NVIDIA algorithms for High-Mix Low-Volume industrial automation. Specifically validated cuRobo for collision-free motion planning and FoundationPose within Isaac Sim for 6D pose estimation.
  • Synthetic Data Generation: Developed a procedural defective part generation pipeline to evaluate perception systems for defect detection. Engineered a Python package to synthetically inject realistic “bubble-like” defects onto a CAD model of a ceramic-composite platform in simulation, enabling the rigorous testing of perception and planning algorithms.
  • Autonomous Scanning: Designed a perception-driven motion planning framework for scanning tubes and ducts. Integrated SAM (Segment Anything Model) for segmentation to extract point clouds and compute an Oriented Bounding Box (OBB) to assign a local object reference frame. Integrated ScLERP-based motion planning to track 6-DoF scanning poses generated using the bounding box.
• Research Intern - Robotics and 3D Modelling (June 2024 - August 2024)
  • Associated with: Nokia Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ, USA
  • Studied the problem of representing and understanding large indoor physical spaces using radiance field techniques (NeRFs and 3D Gaussian Splatting) for developing corresponding digital twins.
  • Developed pipelines for generating 3D reconstructions of large indoor environments (warehouses) using data collected from fisheye cameras (Qoocam, Insta360, Kodak Pixpro SP360), ceiling cameras (Axis), and RGB-D cameras (Intel RealSense D435i) mounted on a mobile robot.
  • Diagnosed and resolved key issues in camera calibration and data acquisition from RGB-D cameras on a moving mobile robot, leading to a 30% improvement in PSNR during training for radiance field generation.
  • Supervisors: Dr. Matthew Andrews and Dr. Jeongran Lee (Modelling and Optimization Group, AIRL)
• Teaching Assistant
  • Associated with: Stony Brook University
  • MEC 310 - Introduction to Machine Design (Fall 2019)
  • MEC 410 - Design of Machine Elements (Spring 2020)
  • MEC 559 - Mobile Robotics and Autonomous Vehicles (Spring 2024)
• Mechanical Design Intern (Nov 2016 - April 2017)
  • Associated with: Integrated Systems, Chinchwad, Maharashtra, India
  • Successfully designed and assembled special-purpose machines and fixtures, applying mechanical design principles to improve production processes.
  • Effectively coordinated with vendors for raw material procurement and component manufacturing, ensuring smooth project execution and meeting project deadlines.

Skills

• Languages: Python, C++, MATLAB, Prolog
• Frameworks: PyTorch, ROS, git, TensorFlow
• Simulation: PyBullet, Gazebo, Isaac Sim, CoppeliaSim, Isaac Lab
• Optimization: cvx, cvxpy, YALMIP, Gurobi
• Perception and Processing: OpenCV, Open3D, nerfstudio, PCL, trimesh
• Other Libraries: NumPy, Eigen, scikit-learn, OpenGL
• Application Software and CAD: Inkscape, Blender, AutoCAD, SolidWorks

Publications

Academic Projects

• RRT Motion Planner for Differential Drive Robots
  • Implemented a modified RRT (Rapidly-exploring Random Trees) using bidirectional search trees with node expansion heuristics and region-based sampling of the goal configuration.[report][code]
• Transforming Constraint Satisfaction Problems from MiniZinc to QUBO
  • Implemented a pipeline, in Python, for converting Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs) modelled using MiniZinc into their equivalent Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) formulations. [code]
• Newton-Euler Inverse Dynamics
  • Implemented the forward and backward iteration stage of the recursive Newton-Euler Inverse Dynamics algorithm. [code]
• Visual Odometry using Deep Recurrent Convolutional Neural Networks
  • Implemented an end-to-end framework for Monocular Visual Odometry using Deep Recurrent Convolutional Neural Networks trained on the KITTI Dataset. [code]

Service and Leadership

• Reviewer
  • IEEE Transactions on Robotics: 2021
  • IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics: 2025
  • IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation: 2020 - Present
  • IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems: 2020, 2024, 2025
• Session Chair
  • Grasping - IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2021
• Mentoring Experience: Actively participated in mentoring high-school, undergraduate and graduate students
  • Simmons Summer Research Program - Stony Brook University: 2021
  • Garcia Summer Research Program - Stony Brook University: 2021-2023
  • CSE 523-524 Advanced Project in Computer Science: 2021 - Present
• Leadership Experience
  • Graduate Student Organisation (SBU) - Secretary (Executive Board): July 2020 - May 2021
    • Elected by the graduate student body at Stony Brook University.
    • Responsible for maintaining GSO documents and records pertaining to the E-board and Senate
    • Chaired the Elections Committee charged with conducting campus-wide elections in tandem with University administration
    • Kickstarted various initiatives during COVID-19 to increase student and alumni engagement while fostering a strong community spirit
  • Graduate Housing Residents Association (SBU) - Treasurer (Executive Board): Sept 2019 - Sept 2021
    • Elected by the graduate student body residing on-campus to serve as a member of the Executive Board
    • Responsible for maintaining expenditure records and procuring funds from programming
  • Graduate Student Organisation (SBU) - Senator: Sept 2019 - May 2020
    • Represented the Department of Mechanical Engineering as the primary Senator at the GSO Senate meetings.
  • Indian Graduate Student Association (SBU) - President (Executive Board): Nov 2017 - Dec 2018
    • Organized and conducted various cultural events and student orientations for the Indian graduate student community at SBU.

Honors and Awards

• Winner - Graduate Research Symposium, Stony Brook University: March 2023 & 2025 Topic: Task-Oriented Grasping with Point Cloud Representation of Objects

• Technology Innovation Award Runner Up, SAE Baja India: Feb 2016

• Ranked 34th in the Maharashtra Talent Search Examination 2008 conducted by Modern Education Society’s Center for Talent Search and Excellence.

References will be provided on request.