CV — Evanns Morales-Cuadrado
Evanns Morales-Cuadrado | Robotics PhD Candidate | U.S. Citizen | Fulbright Specialist
| evannsmc [at] gmail [dot] com | |
| Research Website | https://www.evannsmc.com/ |
| GitHub | https://github.com/evannsmc |
| https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanns-morales/ |
Summary
Robotics PhD candidate in Dr. Samuel Coogan’s FACTS Lab at Georgia Tech and AI for Autonomy intern at Sandia National Laboratories. Specializes in safe autonomy, reinforcement learning, and real-time control. Proven track record of developing and deploying safe, computationally efficient planning and control methods for autonomous systems, with work published in leading peer-reviewed robotics and controls venues. Selected to the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Specialist Roster after spearheading an international research collaboration with a Brazilian partner institution and securing research funding.
Technical Skills
- Programming Languages: Python, C/C++, C#/.NET, Matlab/Simulink
- Robotics & Control Frameworks: ROS 2, NATS, PX4, ArduPilot, acados, CasADi
- Machine Learning & Simulation: JAX, PyTorch, MuJoCo, Reinforcement Learning
- Development & DevOps Tools: Docker, Continuous Integration, Git/GitHub
- Hardware & Experimentation: UAV assembly, repair, and deployment
- Motion-Capture: OptiTrack and Vicon
- Languages: Spanish (Native), English (Native), Portuguese (B1)
Education
Georgia Institute of Technology | 2022-Present
Ph.D. in Robotics
Doctoral Minor in Optimization Methods
- GPA: 4.0/4.0
- Advisor: Dr. Samuel Coogan
- Thesis Proposal Approved (ABD)
- Goizueta Fellow
University of Texas at Arlington | 2018-2022
Honors Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
Minor in Mathematics
Minor in Physics
Certificate in Unmanned Vehicle Systems
- GPA: 3.9/4.0 Summa Cum Laude
- Full National Merit Scholarship Awarded
- Electrical Engineering Honors Scholar
Work Experience
Graduate Research Assistant — FACTS Lab, Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA
August 2022 - Present
- Advised by Dr. Samuel Coogan
- Developed a lightweight tracking control law that beat PX4’s native tracker in aggressive quadrotor flight and matched NMPC’s tracking accuracy at far lower computation time and CPU energy
- Developed safe planning and control methods that combine reachability analysis, formal methods, optimization, and learning to generate fast, provably safe trajectories under unknown disturbances
- Built the lab’s real-time flight-test stack, enabling repeatable hardware validation
Teaching Assistant — Vertically Integrated Project in Robotics, Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA
January 2024 - May 2026
- Mentored about 20 undergraduates per semester on hands-on robotics research, with multiple mentees going on to robotics PhD programs
- Designed and delivered undergraduate lectures on ROS, Git/GitHub, Linux, and control theory, preparing students for research on robotics and autonomous control systems
Research Assistant — Autonomous Systems Lab, University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington, TX
November 2021 - May 2022
- Advised by Dr. Frank Lewis
- Trained in one of the most-cited control research groups in electrical engineering, with Dr. Lewis’ work ranked 12th in the USA and 23rd worldwide by citation impact
- Contributed to reinforcement learning-based quadrotor control research
Teaching Assistant — Graduate-Level Intelligent Systems Course, University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington, TX
January 2022 - May 2022
- Selected as an undergraduate to TA a graduate-level course
- Led exam review sessions and graded homework, exams, and projects
Research Assistant — Dynamical Networks and Control Lab, University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington, TX
October 2019 - May 2022
- Advised by Dr. Yan Wan
- Completed UTA Honors College thesis on learning-based minimum-time and minimum-energy multi-vehicle path planning
Research Interests
- Safe Autonomy
- Hardware Deployment
- Unmanned Ground and Aerial Vehicles
- Advanced Nonlinear Control
- Learning-Based Control
- Trajectory Generation and Planning
Selected Publications
- E. Morales-Cuadrado, S. Coogan, Z. Kakish, and A. Parikh. Submitted to 2027 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). (title redacted until the double-blind review process is complete)
- L. Pinto*, E. Morales-Cuadrado*, S. Coogan, M. A. Wehrmeister, L. Caselatto, and C. E. Magrin. Submitted to 2027 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). *Equal contribution. (title redacted until the double-blind review process is complete)
- M. Cao, A. Harapanahalli, E. Morales-Cuadrado, and S. Coogan, “Trajectory Tracking for Systems with Unknown Time-Varying Disturbances.” IEEE Open Journal of Control Systems (OJ-CSYS), 2026.
- E. Morales-Cuadrado, “Computationally Efficient and Safe Control for Aerial Robotic Systems under Threat and Disturbance.” Ph.D. Thesis Proposal, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2026. pdf available. slides available.
- E. Morales-Cuadrado, L. Chung, S. Kousik, and S. Coogan, “RTD-RAX: Fast, Safe Trajectory Planning for Systems under Unknown Disturbances.” Joint Submission to 2026 Modeling, Estimation and Control Conference (MECC) and ASME Letters in Dynamic Systems and Control (ALDSC). (accepted to both) preprint available.
- E. Morales-Cuadrado, L. Baird, Y. Wardi, and S. Coogan, “Lightweight Tracking Control for Computationally Constrained Aerial Systems with the Newton-Raphson Method.” IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology (TCST), 2026. preprint available.
- L. Baird, E. Morales-Cuadrado, and S. Coogan, “Runtime Assurance for Uncertain Systems from Interval Signal Temporal Logic.” Submitted to IFAC Nonlinear Analysis: Hybrid Systems (NAHS), 2025. (under revision) preprint available.
- E. Morales-Cuadrado, C. Llanes, Y. Wardi, and S. Coogan, “Newton-Raphson Flow for Aggressive Quadrotor Tracking Control.” 2024 American Control Conference (ACC). preprint available.
Open-Source Contributions
- PX4 Autopilot: Contributed documentation improvements to the official PX4 Autopilot manual.
- Vicon4PX4: Developed and open-sourced a ROS 2 C++ Vicon–PX4 interface enabling external vision fusion for indoor quadrotor flight experiments; adopted and showcased by Georgia Tech’s Indoor Flight Lab as part of its official codebase. Also created a parallel package for OptiTrack systems.
Service & Leadership
Co-Founder and President of Puerto Rican Student Association | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA
August 2024 - Present
- Addressed the need for an organization to help Puerto Rican students feel at home and stay connected to our culture
- Formed a three-member co-founder board and identified a faculty advisor
- Raised funds for the organization and recruited members from campus
- Hosted professional, social, and cultural events to meet the needs of the growing Puerto Rican student population at Georgia Tech
Undergraduate Research Mentor | University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington, TX
August 2021 - May 2022
- As the lead undergraduate student in Dr. Frank Lewis’ Autonomous Systems Lab, mentored junior undergrads in controls research and guided them on a research project in ground vehicle control
- Guided students in Robot Operating System, Python, Linux, and Control Systems
Eta Kappa Nu Public Relations Chair & Circuits I Tutor | University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington, TX
August 2020 - May 2022
- Executive board member of UT Arlington’s IEEE-HKN chapter
- In charge of social media advertising for the honor society’s events and outreach initiatives for the electrical engineering student body
- Volunteered to provide free tutoring as a service to electrical engineering students in Circuits I
Honors & Awards
| Award | Date |
|---|---|
| Fulbright Specialist | August 2026 |
| Top-3 Finalist at a Deep Learning Research Symposium | November 2023 |
| Goizueta Fellowship at Georgia Tech | August 2022 |
| Summa Cum Laude Honors at University of Texas at Arlington | May 2022 |
| Honors College Degree Requirements at University of Texas at Arlington | December 2021 |
| Electrical Engineering Honors Scholar at University of Texas at Arlington | December 2021 |
| IEEE-HKN International Electrical Engineering Honor Society Membership | August 2021 |
| Research Experience for Undergraduates Fellowship Recipient | August 2020 |
| Chance Vought Engineering and Science Endowment Scholarship | August 2020 |
| Toray Composite Materials America Inc. Sons and Daughters Scholarship | May 2019 |
| James E. Casey Scholarship Recipient | January 2019 |
| James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Recipient | May 2018 |
| Grapevine, TX Rotary Club Scholarship Recipient | May 2018 |
| National Hispanic Scholar | March 2018 |
| National Merit Scholar | March 2018 |