Career Summary

• Developed an externally funded research, education, mentoring, and outreach program with over 20.6 million dollars of funding, which includes over 10 million dollars in National Science Foundation (NSF) grants as the Principal Investigator (PI).
• 265 scholarly publications: Authored 1 book; edited 3 books; and published 11 chapters in edited books, 1 book review, 69 journal articles, and 181 conference papers. Citation statistics (Google Scholar)—Citations: 6150, h-index: 38.
• Granted 4 U.S. patents.
• Led the creation of a new degree program M.S. in Mechatronics and Robotics.
• Inaugural Director of the Ph.D. Hub at NYU Tandon (January 2022—current), which subsumed my prior role as the Inaugural Director of the Ph.D. Professional Development Program at NYU Tandon (January 2020—December 2021).
• Led the creation and planning for a Tuition-based K-12 STEM Education summer program (with $120K+ revenue in first year (2018), $300K+ revenue in second year (2019), and now over $500K+ revenue).
• Extensive knowledge of and experience in institutional shared governance structures and administrative procedures through service on the institutional Tenure and Promotion Committee (three years as the Chair), Faculty Executive Committee (two years as the Speaker of The Faculty), Financial Policies Committee, and search committees for administrative leadership (President, Provost, Dean, etc.).
• Graduated 1 B.S., 73 M.S., and 13 Ph.D. students. Mentored 6 postdoctoral researchers and one research associate. Currently mentoring 1 Ph.D. and 1 M.S. students.
• Mentored 69 undergraduate research students and 11 undergraduate senior design project teams; 126 high school student researchers; and 18 undergraduate GK-12 STEM Fellows and 59 graduate GK-12 STEM Fellows.
• Directed K-12 education, training, mentoring, and outreach programs that engaged over 500 teachers to integrate engineering concepts in science classrooms and labs of dozens of New York City public schools impacting over 16,000 students.

Research Interests
Research @ the convergence of frontier technologies (robotics, artificial intelligence, augmented/virtual-reality, blockchain technology, etc.) with applications to intuitive and natural human-robot interaction, digital healthcare, and STEM education. Other research interests include: mechatronics; smart sensors; cooperative control; distributed spacecraft formation control; linear/nonlinear control with applications to robust control, saturation control, and time-delay systems; closed-loop input shaping; spacecraft attitude control; DSP/PC/microcontroller-based real-time control; and K-12 STEM education.

Teaching Interests
Statics, Dynamics, Mechanical Vibration, Measurement Systems, Automatic Control, Mechatronics, Advanced Mechatronics, Smart Systems, Robotics, Robots for Disability, Digital Control, Optimal Multivariable Feedback Control, Nonlinear Control, Robust Control, Instrumentation Laboratory, and Real-Time Control Laboratory.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy in Aerospace Engineering, Flight Mechanics and Control
  Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, March 1996 (Advisor: Professor Wassim M. Haddad)
  
  • Dissertation: Robust Fixed-Structure Control of Uncertain Systems with Input-Output Nonlinearities
• Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Dynamics and Control
  Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, March 1993 (Advisor: Professor Wassim M. Haddad)
  
  • Thesis: Optimal Control and Estimation for Discrete-Time Periodic and Multirate Systems
• Bachelor of Technology in Production Engineering and Management
  National Institute of Technology, Calicut, India, October 1988
  (Formerly known as Calicut Regional Engineering College)

Office: Jacobs Hall, 316A, Tandon School of Engineering, New York University, 6 MetroTech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: +1 (646) 997 - 3160 / 3161
Email: vkapila@nyu.edu