About
Education
Ph.D., Systems & Industrial Engineering
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2023 – Present | GPA: 3.83/4.00
M.S., Agricultural & Biological Engineering
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2021 – 2023 | GPA: 3.86/4.00
B.S., Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering
University of Ilorin, Nigeria
2012 – 2017 | GPA: 4.54/5.00, summa cum laude
Industry Experience
Robotics Research Intern
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) — Cambridge, MA
May 2025 – Aug. 2025
Developed a hierarchical multi-agent system for coordinated aerial infrastructure inspection with heterogeneous drones, using sequential convex programming for constrained trajectory generation. Built a high-fidelity simulator in Gazebo gz-sim with PX4 and a fully ROS2-native communication graph.
Robotics & Automation Intern
Corteva Agriscience — Champaign, IL
May 2022 – Aug. 2022
Developed vision-based navigation for a canopy robot, reducing crash rate below 1 in 1000 feet of travel. Applied DeepSORT-based detection, tracking, and semantic segmentation (Mask R-CNN, DeepLab, U-Net) for crop trait extraction and field phenotyping.
Analyst → Associate & Project Lead
Solina Centre for International Development and Research — Abuja, Nigeria
2018 – 2020
Led data-driven immunization and health-systems projects, contributing to improvements in vaccination coverage from 8% to 53% Penta 3 in Yobe State. Built monitoring dashboards and coordinated multi-source data collection.
Research Experience
Graduate Research Assistant
Autonomous & Unmanned Vehicle Systems Laboratory (AUVSL), UIUC
Jan 2023 – Present
Modeled and stabilized a tethered UAV system via nonlinear backstepping control. Designed CBF-based safety filters for tethered UAVs. Built a ROS2 LiDAR odometry localization pipeline on a Clearpath Husky robot. Supported writing of an NSF CPS Medium proposal ($750k).
Graduate Research Assistant
Allen Research Group, UIUC
Jan 2022 – Dec. 2022
Developed vision-based terrain classification algorithms using ResNet & U-Net architectures, achieving up to 94% accuracy on diverse off-road terrains. Designed an MPC-based look-ahead controller for boom sprayer operations on uneven terrain.
Teaching & Mentoring
Teaching Assistant
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Fall 2022 – Present
SE 423 Mechatronics (SP 2025, SP 2026) · SE 420 Digital Control of Dynamic Systems (FA 2024, FA 2025, listed among Teachers Ranked as Excellent) · IE 310 Deterministic Models in Optimization (SP 2024) · ETMA 311 Humanity in the Food Web (FA 2023, SP 2024) · ABE 466 Engineering Off-Road Vehicles (FA 2022).
Tutor / Peer Mentor / Team Lead
University of Ilorin, Nigeria
2013 – 2017
Delivered peer tutorials in algebra, calculus, dynamics, hydraulics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer. Led a team of 40 students in community-based technical projects and launched a peer mentoring program that continues to operate.
Professional Activities
Peer Reviewer
IFAC World Congress (2026) · European Control Conference, ECC (2025) · American Control Conference, ACC (2025) · IFAC Modeling, Estimation and Control Conference, MECC (2025) · ASME Letters in Dynamic Systems and Control (2025)
Memberships
IEEE · ASABE · SAE · NSBE · Nigerian Society of Engineers
Awards
John Deere–ASABE Graduate Student Grant
Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference, KY, USA — 2024
Fusen Fund Seed Funding
$25,000 seed funding for startup idea — 2023
Georgia Tech Create-X Seed Funding
$5,000 seed funding for startup idea — 2023
PTDF Overseas Scholarship
Nigerian Petroleum Technology Development Fund — King's College London, 2021
Best Graduating Student
Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering — University of Ilorin, 2017
University Scholar
Highest GPA over four academic sessions — University of Ilorin, 2013–2017
Volunteering
IMAGINE Lego Robotics Club
Volunteer — DREAAM House, Champaign IL
Weekly mentoring of 4th–6th graders in coding and mechanical design using LEGO robotics kits.
Worldwide Youth in Science & Engineering (WYSE)
Mentor — High School Scholars Program
Guided 48 high-school students across two summers in engineering research projects.
Twin City Bible Church
Sound Technician — Urbana, IL
Set up, operate, and maintain audio systems for weekly church services.
Entrepreneurship
Hytch Buddy
Co-founder
A platform connecting drivers and riders looking to travel between cities — with safety, ease, and comfort at the core.
Fun Activities
Soccer
Playing and watching.
FIFA
Competitive FIFA sessions with friends.
Baking
Baking with my girlfriend. Our kitchen experiments range from decent to surprisingly good.
Running
Running laps for cardio.
Driving
Long drives with good music.
