I am a Professor of Computer Science and Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California(USC). I lead the TEAMCORE Research Group and our research is focused on agents and multi-agent systems: systems where multiple intelligent agents, including software agents, virtual agents in simulations, robots and people interact. Our group is interested applying multiagent systems to real-world problems, particularly problems of security, safety and sustainability, and advancing fundamental research to address these needs. Indeed, today, our algorithms have been deployed for real-world use by several agencies including the LAX police, the Federal Air Marshals service, the US Coast Guard and the TSA. A key aspect of our research is the interdisciplinary partnerships, such as with the Game theory and human behavior group, which I founded at USC.

I am a fellow of AAAI (Association for Advancement of Artificial Intelligence) and recipient of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) SIGART Agents Research award. I am also recipient of the Homeland Security Award from the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation (a federal government agency), Operational Excellence Award from the Commander First Coast Guard District, Certificate of Appreciation from US Federal Air Marshals Service, a special commendation given by the Los Angeles World Airports police from the city of Los Angeles, USC Viterbi School of Engineering use-inspired research award, Okawa foundation faculty research award, the RoboCup scientific challenge award, USC Steven B. Sample Teaching and Mentoring award and the ACM recognition of service award. Additionally, our papers have been selected as best papers at a dozen premier Artificial Intelligence and Operations Research Conferences and workshops including the International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS), International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA) and the David Rist Prize of the Military Operations Research Society. I received my Ph.D. from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.