Abed K. Musaffar – BiographyAbed K. Musaffar is a doctoral student in the department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His current research focus is on the development of cognitive models and strategies for high performance Human-AI teams. He is advised by Professor Francesco Bullo Abed received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2022. As an undergraduate, Abed held internships at NASA Ames Research Center, Venturi Astrolab, and also participated in undergraduate research. At NASA Ames, Abed collaborated on the design and control of soft-robotic structures known as tensegrities as well as ML-based models for robust identification of forest trails for an unmanned ground vehicle. At Venturi Astrolab Abed contributed to the development of a commercial space rover through the design of critical suspension and payload components. Venturi Astrolab went on to fund Abed's senior capstone project to develop a low-force lunar regolith excavation module for Astrolab's FLEX rover. Under Abed's leadership, the team received the University of California, Santa Barbara's award for Most Innovative Design in Mechanical Engineering 2022. Finally, Abed also conducted undergraduate research under advisor Professor Samantha Daly where he investigated ML techniques for failure prediction in ceramic matrix composites. Abed is recipient of the Zed Factor Fellowship (Forbes' 2021 Most Intriguing Newcomer). Through the fellowship, Abed sponsored a community outreach event in the Bay Area to connect underrepresented minorities with opportunities in aerospace. As part of this endeavor, Abed collaborated with the San Jose Astronomical Association to organize a solar viewing event where the community was able to learn about and observe the sun through specialized telescopes, as well as interact with meteorites, and learn about the forces of flight. |