Avik De, Ph.D.

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Robotics executive and hands-on technologist with deep expertise across legged mobility, embedded real-time systems, and full-stack robot architecture. Co-founded and scaled a commercial robotics company from 2 to 70 people while leading core platform architecture spanning mechanics, electronics, firmware, and high-performance control software. Background combines academic research in dynamic locomotion with production deployment of fielded robotic systems.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Management & Leadership. Grew startup from 2-70 people; managed up to 10 direct reports; agile methodology; product roadmaps; cross-functional engineering lead; KPIs; vendor relationships.

Software. Architecture and implementation of Ghost Robotics robot and mobility software and SDK; high-performance concurrent C++ running on embedded platforms for real-time control; hardware drivers; RT Linux; ONNX; TensorRT; GStreamer; physics simulation with Bullet physics.

Firmware. Architecture and implementation of multi-process real-time control systems; STM32; comms using EtherCAT, Ethernet, USB, RS485, USART, SPI, I2C; RT Linux; advanced motor control (FOC, field-weakening, etc.).

Electrical. Architecture; PCB schematic & layout (Eagle PCB, Altium Designer); high-power electronics including brushless motor controllers; MCU-equipped robot mainboards.

Mechanical. Design architecture; motor and drivetrain selection using analysis & simulations; Solidworks.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Adjunct Associate Professor of Electrical & Systems Engineering | UPenn 2026 — Present

• Research in robotics and reinforcement learning
• Guest lecturer in graduate-level reinforcement learning course

Co-founder & Chief Science Officer | Ghost Robotics 2015 — Present

• Assembled and managed an engineering organization from founding team to 70 people.
• Technical owner of robot platform architecture: drivetrain, actuation, electronics, and computing subsystems
• Leadership in establishing innovation and commercial applications divisions.
• Mobility, perception, and estimation algorithms; proven customer-renowned rough-terrain stability.
• Hands-on implementation of low-level software, electronics, firmware.
• Directed transition from research prototypes to robust commercial systems.

Postdoctoral Fellow | Harvard University Microrobotics Lab (Dr. Rob Wood) 2019 — 2020

• Research on optimization-based RoboBee design and hierarchical flapping flight control.

Ph.D. Researcher | UPenn KodLab (Dr. Daniel Koditschek) 2010 — 2017

• Research on modular and bio-inspired control of hopping and running.
• Developed new lab mechatronics infrastructure, Penn Jerboa and Delta Hopper robots.
• Work led to spin-out of Ghost Robotics, a successful startup.

Undergraduate Researcher | JHU LIMBS Lab (Dr. Noah Cowan) 2007 — 2010

• Research on neuromechanical control of juggling, SLAM on graphs, leading to 3 publications.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Advisor: Dr. Daniel E. Koditschek 2017

M.S. (Mech Engg), B.S. (Engg Mech), B.S. (Appl Math). Johns Hopkins Univ, Baltimore, MD. 2010

HONORS & AWARDS

• Philadelphia Business Journal 40 Under 40 – 2026
• Entrepreneur Of The Year Greater Philadelphia – 2025
• Outstanding reviewer awards: RAL, Bioinspriation & Biomimetics, IOP publishing
• Best Doctoral Dissertation Award for the 2017-2018 Academic Year. UPenn Electrical and Systems Engineering dept – 2018
• James S. McDonnell Postdoctoral Fellowship Winner. $200k award for 2-3 years – 2017
• Robert George Gerstmeyer Award. For academic achievement (JHU Mech. Engg. Department) 2008-09
• Provost’s Undergraduate Research Award. For summer research (JHU) – 2008-09
• Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma Engg. honor societies. Inductee (JHU) – 2008
• International Scholarship. Merit-based full-tuition scholarship (JHU) – 2006-10

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

(For a full list of publications and citation metrics, see Google Scholar.)

• De, A., Stewart-Height, A., & Koditschek, D. E., Task-Based Control and Design of a BLDC Actuator for Robotics, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L) — design and control of brushless DC actuators for robotic applications.

• De, A. & Koditschek, D. E., Vertical Hopper Compositions for Preflexive and Feedback-Stabilized Quadrupedal Bounding, Pacing, Pronking, and Trotting, International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR) — hybrid dynamical systems for robust legged gaits.

• Kenneally, G., De, A., & Koditschek, D. E., Design Principles for a Family of Direct-Drive Legged Robots, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L) — methodology for high-performance direct-drive legged platforms.

• Burden, S. A., De, A., & Koditschek, D. E., A Hybrid Dynamical Extension of Averaging and Its Application to the Analysis of Legged Gait Stability, International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR) — extending averaging methods for hybrid robotic locomotion stability.

• Vasilopoulos, V., Arslan, O., De, A., & Koditschek, D. E., Sensor-Based Legged Robot Homing Using Range-Only Target Localization, IEEE/ROBIO Conference — reactive navigation for legged robots in unknown environments.

• De, A., McGill, R. and Wood, R.J., 2022. An efficient, modular controller for flapping flight composing model-based and model-free components. International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR) — hierarchical Model-predictive control of RoboBee flapping flight

• Topping, T. T., Vasilopoulos, V., De, A., & Koditschek, D. E., Mode-Reactive Template-Based Control in Planar Legged Robots, Journal Article — hierarchical control strategies for legged locomotion.

SELECTED INVITED TALKS

Invited speaker at major robotics venues including ICRA, IROS, RSS workshops, CMU RI Seminar, IFRR Quadruped Colloquium, and academic/industry seminars on legged robot design, power-efficient locomotion, shared autonomy, actuator limits, and bio-inspired control architectures (2015–2024).

TEACHING, MENTORING & SERVICE

• Instructor (UPenn/Coursera Robotics Specialization – Mobility & Capstone)

• Guest Lecturer, UPenn graduate robotics and dynamical systems courses

• Mentor to undergraduate, M.S., and Ph.D. researchers (ICRA/IROS publications)

• Reviewer: IJRR, T-RO, RA-L, Automatica, Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, and major robotics conferences

• Outreach: FIRST Lego League judge; animal welfare volunteer

SELECTED OPEN-SOURCE PROJECTS

• Robotics teaching and demonstration. Hierarchical manipulation pipeline
• Computer architecture libraries. TinyXPU modular systolic array
• STM32 microcontrollers. Main developer for koduino Arduino core for STM32 microcontrollers, which was adopted by the stm32duino community before the first-part HAL libraries became stable; stm32ld fork supporting auto-reset.
• Upstream contributions. Minor contributor to bullet3, nanopb, osqp, qhull, TinyTorch.