Curriculum Vitae

Home Research Description Teaching Publications CV Short Bio   Dr. Sérgio Pequito is an assistant professor at the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also holds a courtesy appointment at the Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering department. From 2014 to 2017, he was a postdoctoral researcher in General Robotics, Automation, Sensing & Perception Laboratory (GRASP lab) at University of Pennsylvania. He obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and Instituto Superior Técnico, through the CMU-Portugal program, in 2014. Previously, he received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from the Instituto Superior Técnico in 2007 and 2009, respectively.  Pequito's research consists of understanding the global qualitative behavior of large-scale systems from their structural or parametric descriptions and provide a rigorous framework for the design, analysis, optimization and control of large scale (real-world) systems. Currently, his interests span to neuroscience and biomedicine, where dynamical systems and control theoretic tools can be leveraged to develop new analysis tools for brain dynamics that, ultimately, will lead to new diagnostics and treatments of neural disorders. In addition, these tools can be used towards effective personalized medicine and improve brain-computer and brain-machine-brain interfaces that will improve people's life quality. Pequito was awarded the best student paper finalist in the 48th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (2009). Also, Pequito received the ECE Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University, and the Carnegie Mellon Graduate Teaching Award (University-wide) honorable mention, both in 2012. Also, Pequito was a 2016 EECI European Ph.D. Award on Control for Complex and Heterogeneous Systems finalist and received the 2016 O. Hugo Schuck Award in the Theory Category. Academic Background       2014 PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Dual Degree) Carnegie Mellon University & Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon Dissertation title: A Structural Approach to Design, Analysis and Optimization of Large-Scale Dynamical Systems [summary] Advisers: Professor A. Pedro Aguiar (ECE-FEUP)               Professor Diogo Gomes (MATH-IST & MATH-KAUST)               Professor Soummya Kar (ECE-CMU)     2009 MSc in Applied Mathematics (Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems) Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon Thesis title: The Entropy Penalized Minimum Energy Estimator Advisers:Professor A. Pedro Aguiar (ECE-IST)               Professor Diogo Gomes (MATH-IST)      2007 BSc in Applied Mathematics and Computation Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon Final project title: The perceptron: from neural models to their computability Adviser: Professor José Félix Costa (MATH-IST) Professional Experience     Aug 2017 - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor Troy, NY, USA     Aug 2014 - July 2017 University of Pennsylvania Postdoctoral Researcher General Robotics, Automation, Sensing & Perception Laboratory Philadelphia, PA, USA Supervisor: Professor George J. Pappas     Fev 2009 - Sept 2009 European Space Agency Trainee Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) systems group European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC) Noordwijk, The Netherlands Supervisor: Doctor Rémi Drai     Fev 2008 - Jan 2009 Institute for System and Robotics Young Researcher Dynamical System and Ocean Robotics LAB Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon Supervisor:Professor A. Pedro Aguiar  Awards and Honors   2016 2016 2012 2012 2012 2012 2009 2009 2009   O. Hugo Schuck Award in the Theory Category European Embedded Control Institute (EECI) European PhD Award on Control for Complex and Heterogeneous Systems (finalist) Phi Kappa Phi, Love of Learning Award Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University Graduate Teaching Award (university-wide) [Honorable Mention] Phi Kappa Phi member (Carnegie Mellon Chapter) Best student paper award finalist at 48th Conference on Decision and Control Second prize for the best students of the Technical University of Lisbon Consortium Linking Universities of Science and Technology for Education and Research (CLUSTER) prize Home Research Description Teaching Publications CV