Congratulations to recent Electrical Engineering and Computer Science alum Fangyu Wu, who has been awarded the Milton Pikarsky Memorial Award–Ph.D Award by the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) for his outstanding dissertation, “Planning and Control for Multi-Agent Robotic Systems.”
“Wu’s innovative spirit and collaborative attitude set him apart in all aspects of his research, especially in the NSF-funded multi-million-dollar initiative CIRCLES project,” say advisor, EECS Professor Alexandre Bayen Bayen. “Wu’s contributions, particularly to the hardware aspects of the project, were instrumental to the experiment.”
The award, named after the commissioner of public works for the City of Chicago from 1962 to 1973, is given annually for the best Doctoral dissertation and Master’s thesis in the field of science and technology in transportation studies. Winners will be recognized at the CUTC Annual Awards banquet held on Saturday, January 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Now a postdoc at Cornell University, Wu’s research interests encompass optimization approaches to multiagent robotic systems, with a focus on planning and control of automated vehicles.
As a student, Wu is noted for his innovative and intelligent research, supporting his co-workers, and mentoring junior researchers. He also built and managed a robotics lab, maintained AV vehicles, and led a team of M.Eng students in conducting transportation research, which earned him the M.Eng. Technical Contribution Award for demonstrating superb leadership skills, and the Sevin Rosen Funds Award for Innovation for his innovative technical achievement.
His notable distinctions include graduation with the Highest Honour from UIUC in 2016, the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship in 2019, the Best Paper Award in Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies in 2020, and named ITS Berkeley PhD Student of the Year in 2024 for outstanding research, service, and commitment to the ITS community.
Wu graduated in July 2024 with a Ph.D in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences department at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016 and 2018, and an M.Eng. in EECS from UC Berkeley in 2019. He began working as a Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University in July 2024.