Meet the PI

Arash Tavakoli, Ph.D. 

Arash is an Assistant Professor in Transportation Engineering at Villanova University. His research is focused on humanizing smart cities. He is interested in building systems that can understand, adapt, and communicate with humans. Before joining Villanova University, he was a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. 

Meet Our Multidisciplinary Team

Yasaman Hakiminejad, Ph.D. Student

Yasaman is a Ph.D. Student in Transportation Engineering at Villanova University. She received her bachelor’s in Architectural Engineering from Shahid Beheshti University in Iran. Yasaman is interested in bridging the gap between automation and civil and infrastructural engineering to make autonomy more reliable and human-like. She uses her background in architecture and combines it with a flavor of human sensing and machine learning to enhance the design of human-autonomy interaction interfaces in different contexts such as human-automated vehicle interaction.

Shiva Azimi, Ph.D. Student

Shiva Azimi is a Ph.D. student in Transportation Engineering at Villanova University. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Shahid Beheshti University in Iran and her master’s degree in Transportation Engineering from the University of Hawaii. Her research interests encompass autonomous and intelligent transportation systems, with a particular focus on safety and user experience. Shiva’s current work involves creating simulation environments for transportation systems, where she aims to enhance the overall experience and safety of transportation systems for all users.

Hiep (Roger) Nguyen, Undergraduate Researcher

Hiep is a Freshman in Computer Science at Villanova University. He is interested in the intersection of technology and human cognition. His deep-rooted interest in STEM propels his vision: applying Cognitive AI in behavior-based personalization, especially in education.

Hieu Bui, Undergraduate Researcher, Villanova University

Hieu Bui (Thomas) is a junior studying Computer Engineering, with minors in Mechatronics and Computer Science, at Villanova University. He is from Hanoi, Vietnam. His research interests focus on Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and humanoid robotics, where he is developing a Computer Vision model for human-robot interaction in the context of construction engineering.

Blue, Robot Researcher

Blue is a robot in our lab interested in all things human collaboration. Most of the time, Blue is spending hours to learn computer vision models to better collaborate with other members of the lab. 

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Address

800 E Lancaster Ave, Villanova, PA 19085

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