About Me
I’m currently a motion planning and control software engineer at Zoox Inc., where I work on software and algorithms for autonomous driving behavior planning.
Previously, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Autonomous Systems, Control, and Optimization (ASCO) laboratory where I worked on verified assured learning for autonomous systems. My research was focused on motion planning and control under uncertainty in complex, dynamic environments.
Prior to that, I finished my Ph.D. in robotics at Johns Hopkins Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics with a focus on continuum robots and development of a dexterous surgical robotic system for autonomous minimally invasive orthopaedic interventions (dissertation).
In my free time, I enjoy electronic music production, mixing, and mastering.
Education
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Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering (Robotics), Johns Hopkins University, 2015 - 2020
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M.S.E. Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, 2015 - 2017
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B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, 2009 - 2014
Experience
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Zoox Inc., California, United States
Software Engineer, Motion Planning and Control, 2021 - Present -
Autonomous Systems, Control, and Optimization Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
Postdoctoral Fellow: Motion Planning, Control and Software Architecture Lead, 2020 - 2021 -
Verb Surgical Inc. (now Johnson & Johnson), California, United States
Robotics and Control Software Engineer Intern, June - Sep 2018 -
Biomechanical and Image-Guided Surgical Systems Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
Ph.D. Candidate: Graduate Research Assistant, 2015 - 2020 -
Research Center for Biomedical Technologies and Robotics, Sharif University of Technology
Robotics Engineer Intern, Feb - May 2014
Research Interests
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Robotics
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Machine Learning
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Autonomous Systems
Selected Publications
For a full list of publications, please refer to my Google Scholar. Selected publications:
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S. Sefati, S. Mishra, M. Sheckells, K. Katyal, J. Bai, G. Hager, M. Kobilarov.
“Robust Policy Search for an Agile Ground Vehicle Under Perception Uncertainty. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2021 -
S. Sefati, R. Hegeman, I. Iordachita, R. Taylor, M. Armand.
“A Dexterous Robotic System for Autonomous Debridement of Osteolytic Bone Lesions in Confined Spaces: Human Cadaver Studies”. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2021 -
S. Sefati, R. Hegeman, F. Alambeigi, I. Iordachita, P. Kazanzides, H. Khanuja, R. Taylor, M. Armand.
“A Surgical Robotic System for Treatment of Pelvic Osteolysis Using an FBG-Equipped Continuum Manipulator and Flexible Instruments”. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 2020 -
S. Sefati, C. Gao, I. Iordachita, R. Taylor, M. Armand.
“Data-Driven Shape Sensing of a Surgical Continuum Manipulator Using an Uncalibrated Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor”. IEEE Sensors Journal, 2020 -
F. Monet (co-first author), S. Sefati (co-first author), P. Lorre, A. Poiffaut, S. Kadoury, M. Armand, I. Iordachita, R. Kashyap.
“High-Resolution Optical Fiber Shape Sensing of Continuum Robots: A Comparative Study”. International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2020 -
S. Sefati, S. Sefati, I. Iordachita, R. Taylor, M. Armand.
“Learning to Detect Collisions for Continuum Manipulators without a Prior Model”. International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Interventions (MICCAI), 2019
Patents
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S. Sefati, I. Iordachita, M. Armand.
“Data-driven collision detection for manipulator arms”. US Patent App. 16/801,272 -
F. Alambeigi, S. Sefati, R. J. Murphy, M. Armand, C. Gordon, S. Liu.
“Cutting machine for resizing raw implants during surgery”. US Patent App. 16/806,935