I'm a Computer Science Ph.D. student at UMass Amherst. I am advised by Prof. Donghyun Kim in the Dynamic and Autonomous Robotic Systems Lab. Prior to that, I received an M.Sc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

My research lies primarily in the intersection between machine learning and legged robotics. Animals exhibit incredible levels of "Athletic Intelligence''. Consider Walia Ibex, a subspecies of the Alpine ibex native to the Semien Mountains in northern Ethiopia, where I grew up. It can gracefully walk next to cliffs, climb stiff terrains, run, and effortlessly leap obstacles while smoothly transitioning from one behavior to the other. Walia Ibex's planning and adaption of these dynamic behaviors are performed on the fly based on the environment, and the overall locomotion is exceptionally stable and robust. Unfortunately, today's robots lack this level of agility, adaptability, and foresight. My research aims to address this gap by integrating the recent advances in the two seemingly disparate approaches to legged locomotion, reinforcement learning, and trajectory optimization.