Résumé — Evanns Morales-Cuadrado
resume
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
Selected Publications
- 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 MECC-ALDSC. (accepted to both) 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, 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.
Research Interests
- Safe Autonomy
- Hardware Deployment
- Unmanned Ground and Aerial Vehicles
- Advanced Nonlinear Control
- Learning-Based Control
- Trajectory Generation and Planning
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
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 |
| Electrical Engineering Honors Scholar at University of Texas at Arlington | December 2021 |
| IEEE-HKN International Electrical Engineering Honor Society Membership | August 2021 |
| Chance Vought Engineering and Science Endowment Scholarship | August 2020 |
| National Hispanic Scholar | March 2018 |
| National Merit Scholar | March 2018 |