Juan Alvarez-Padilla | PhD Student | Robotics

I am a third-year PhD student at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University, where I am advised by John Dolan and Zachary Manchester and work with my talented labmates at DRIVELab and RexLab. I am interested in developing control algorithms that enable robots to adapt to their environment and navigate towards their destinations. For that, I employ techniques at the intersection of trajectory optimization, control systems, and machine learning.

Prior to joining CMU, I held various positions in the industry, ranging from Artificial Intelligence Engineer at Robert Bosch to Data Scientist and CTO at a computer vision start-up. Since 2021, I have been an Associate Professor at the Cyber-human Integration Technologies Division at Universidad de Guadalajara, currently on leave of absence for my doctoral studies. In addition to my research, I also serve as a NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute Certified Instructor and am a member of the NVIDIA University Ambassador Program, where I deliver workshops for free to academics and students of Latin America in Spanish to promote the learning of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.

During the summer of 2025, I completed an internship at City Science Lab @ Tapei Tech and Foxconn Research Institute, where I worked on the design, building, and control of bipedal robots. I am especially grateful to Michael, Morris, Anson, Jason, Hao, Michelle, Yale, Stanley, James, Sam, Jack, Leo, and Evelyn for their collaboration and for making this experience both productive and enjoyable. Stay tuned for news about the family of robots that are coming 🍍.