Team
Principal Investigator
Prof. Junfeng Zhao
Dr. Junfeng Zhao is an assistant professor at Arizona State University, where he founded the Battery Electric & Intelligent Vehicle (BELIV) Lab. He is a graduate faculty member of the Clean Energy Systems (CES) program and the Robotics & Autonomous Systems (RAS) program.
Dr. Zhao’s research focuses on connected and automated vehicles, vehicle–infrastructure cooperative perception, autonomous vehicle system integration and safety evaluation, motion planning and control, and AI and machine learning for intelligent transportation and robotics systems, with additional emphasis on electrified propulsion and battery management systems. His work aims to enable safe, scalable, and deployable intelligent vehicle technologies through system-level modeling, data-driven methods, and experimental validation. Before joining ASU, Dr. Zhao worked as a Senior Researcher at General Motors Research and Development, where his experience informs his academic research on advanced vehicle control, diagnostics, and automated driving systems.
Dr. Zhao currently serves as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems and ASME Letters in Dynamic Systems and Control. He has authored over 40 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications and is a co-inventor on 15 U.S. patents.
Dr. Zhao received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2015, where he was a recipient of the OSU Presidential Fellowship. He also holds an M.S. degree from the University of British Columbia and a B.S. degree from Tsinghua University.
Ph.D. Students
Jingxiong Meng
(08/2022-Present)
Jingxiong Meng received his M.S. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2022, and his B.S. degree in Transportation from the South China University of Technology in 2020. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Systems Engineering at Arizona State University.
His research interests are focused on Machine Learning, Vehicle Localization, Cooperative Perception, and Connected and Automated Vehicles.
Hengcong Guo
(01/2023-Present)
Hengcong Guo received his M.S. degree in Communication and Transportation Engineering in 2021, and his B.S. degree in Automation in 2016, both from the South China University of Technology. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Systems Engineering at Arizona State University.
His research interests include Automated Vehicle Motion Planning, Deep-Reinforcement-Learning based Driving Behavior Modeling, and Operational Safety Testing for Automated Vehicles.
Steve Rundus (co-advise)
(8/2023-Present)
Steve Rundus has 25+ years of engineering experience in the aerospace and automotive industries. He received his M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2004 and his M.S. degree in Automotive Engineering in 2002, both from Lawrence Technological University. He received his B.S.E. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1996 from LeTourneau University. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Systems Engineering at Arizona State University.
His research interests include Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEV), Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV) and CAV operational safety metrics.
Haorao Ding
(01/2024-Present)
Haoran Ding completed his M.S. in Computer Engineering at New York University, Tandon, in 2021 and his B.S. in Math and Scientific Computation as well as Computer Science at the University of California, Davis, in 2019. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Systems Engineering at Arizona State University.
His research interests are focused on computer vision, including autonomous systems and human-computer interaction, as well as machine learning methods such as object detection and other deep neural networks.
Master Students
Deandre San Agustin
(01/2025-Present)
DeAndre San Agustin received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University in May 2024. He is continuing his education at Arizona State pursuing a M.S. degree in Robotics and Autonomous
His research interests include Autonomous Vehicle Systems and Simulation, Robotics, Machine Learning, and Perception.
Dheeraj Reddy Pasham
(11/2024-Present)
Dheeraj Reddy Pasham received his B.Tech degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, India, in 2024. He is currently pursuing his M.S. degree in Robotics and Autonomous Systems(Electrical Engineering) at Arizona State University.
His research interests include Digital Twin Technology, Battery Management Systems (BMS), Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), Machine Learning, and Deep Learning.
Anirudh Iyer
(01/2025-Present)
Anirudh received his B.Tech degree in Computer Science and Engineering from IIIT-Delhi, India in May 2024. He is pursuing his M.S degree in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (Systems Engineering) at Arizona State University.
His research interests include Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, Computer Vision, Perception, and Planning.
Andy Tsai
(06/2026-Present)
Andy Tsai is pursuing his M.S. degree in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (Artificial Intelligence) at Arizona State University. He received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan, and completed a study-abroad program in Electrical Engineering at Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Germany.
His research interests include autonomous vehicle systems and simulation, robotics, machine learning (deep learning and reinforcement learning), and perception (computer vision).
Rakshith Baskar
(05/2025-Present)
Rakshith received his B.Tech degree in Computer Science and Engineering (AI & Robotics) from the Vellore Institute of Technology, India, in July 2024. He is pursuing his M.S. degree in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (Systems Engineering) at Arizona State University.
His research interests include autonomous systems, sensor fusion, perception, and intelligent vehicles.
Undergraduate Students
Myles White
(05/2025-Present)
Myles White is an Undergraduate student studying Electrical Engineering at Arizona State University, with a background in leadership and trade work. He is currently contributing to the Battery Management Systems (BMS) team with a focus on real time embedded systems and hardware integration.
His research interests include electric vehicles, energy storage, and the intersection of hardware and usability.
Lab Alumni
Mr. Pranav Ramesh Bidare, M.S. (Thesis) Fall 2025,
Mr. Venkata Seetha Ram Mohan Thota, M.S. (Project) Spring 2025,
Mr. Yoganandam Velamuri, M.S. (Project) Spring 2025, Software Development Engineer, Amazon Robotics, USA
Mr. Yiyang Lin, M.S. (Project) Spring 2025, Electrical Engineer, Advanced Automation Group, USA
Mr. Nithish Kumar Saravanan, M.S. (Thesis) Fall 2024, Robotics Engineer, Bharat Forge, India
Mr. Pranav Rajesh, M.S. (Thesis) Fall 2024, Project Engineer, Strata Innovative Solutions, USA
Mr. Sunder Swaminathan, M.S. (Thesis) Fall 2024, Functional Safety Engineer, SafeLink Innovations, USA
Ms. Sobha Srujana Patri, M.S. (Project) Fall 2024,
Ms. Sudeeksha Chagarlamudi, M.S. (Project) Fall 2024, Co-Founder and Head of Product, Naware, USA
Mr. Krithik Rajavelu, M.S. (Project) Fall 2024, Robotics Control Engineer, Persimmon Technologies Corporation, USA
Mr. Dheeraj Kallakuri, M.S. (Project) Fall 2024, System Engineer, Caterpillar Inc., USA
Mr. Nathan Fahner, M.S. (Project) Fall 2024, Manufacturing Engineer, CNH Industrial, USA
Mr. Shun-Yen Wang, M.S. (Thesis) Fall 2024, Project Engineer, TSMC, USA
Mr. Jiangtao Li, M.S. (Project) Fall 2023, Project Engineer, BYD North America, USA
Mr. Gavin O’Malley, M.S. (Thesis) Fall 2023, Safety Engineer, USA