September 11, 2026
New blog post on certifying uncontrollability
A new essay explains how infeasibility certificates from convex optimization can rapidly prove that a desired state-space maneuver cannot be reached.
News
A running archive of papers, classes, travel, talks, grants, and other updates from the lab and beyond.
2026
September 2026
Two new preprints are online
Two recent works are now available as preprints: one accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles, and one conditionally accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.
September 2026
CE 4240 / 5240 Fall 2026 page is live
The new Infrastructure Systems Engineering course page includes the syllabus, the first two modules, and the first two homework assignments. More course content will be added as it is developed.
August 2026
New essay: The Compression Was Never Free
A long-form piece on reduced-order models, compression, language, fashion, infrastructure, and the cost of throwing away hidden modes.
August 2026
Teaching Infrastructure Systems Engineering this Fall
An earlier offering of the class is now available online for anyone who wants a preview of the material.
August 2026
Back from a very long summer of travel
A new post collects some thoughts from the summer and a gallery of pictures from the trip.
August 2026
Jafar's first PhD paper appears online
The paper develops a large-scale optimization model for multimodal transportation networks.
July 2026
New ICML 2026 paper on anomaly detection
A new conference paper on anomaly detection appeared at the International Conference on Machine Learning. Congrats, Yilin.
July 2026
New paper with Kazma on observability in nonlinear systems
This work proposes a new way to quantify observability in nonlinear systems after a very long review journey.
June 2026
Matrix Mint is now live
A new timed puzzle on the site asks you to build a symmetric matrix P that certifies stability.
June 2026
At PSCC 2026 in Cyprus
Abdallah presented his work on parameter-state estimation in power systems at this year's conference.
June 2026
New L-CSS paper on convex duality and uncontrollability certificates
The paper explores a connection between convex duality, uncontrollability certificates, and the PBH test.
June 2026
New work on useful control barrier functions for power systems
Abdallah's latest work on control barrier functions for power systems is now available while the paper is under review.
May 2026
Mohamad Kazma defends his PhD
Mohamad defended his PhD in May 2026, and I could not be more proud of him.
March 2026
New blog post: I Thought Everyone Went to Jail
A late-night reflection on childhood assumptions, academia, and the quieter kinds of confinement.
March 2026
New blog post: Are the Models Lying to You?
A short essay on models, prediction, climate, and why confidence in complex systems should always stay provisional.
March 2026
Network partitioning paper accepted at IEEE TAC
Congrats to Mohamad Kazma on his first IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control paper.
March 2026
New paper on uncertainty propagation in coupled hydrologic systems
This submission studies distribution-agnostic state-space analysis for coupled hydrologic and hydrodynamic models.
January 2026
Paper accepted on intermodal freight transportation reliability
Congrats to Jafar on a new paper about reliability assessment in intermodal freight transportation.
January 2026
New numerical computing course this semester
I am teaching a new required class on numerical computing in my department this semester.