People
Current Graduate Students Advised
Chaitanya Sonalkar
Exp. Degree/Date: Ph.D., May 2026
Research Area: Terramechanics, Vehicle Dynamics, Analytical Tire Modeling
Chaitanya joined the lab in the Summer of 2022. His research interests are in tire modeling, vehicle dynamics and prediction of tire characteristics using analytical and semi-empirical modeling of tire-soil interaction. His work focuses on predicting mobility over off-road terrain using classical terramechanics and machine learning approaches.
Alexandru Vilsan
Exp. Degree/Date: Ph.D., December 2026
Research Area: Terramechanics, Instrumentation and sensing
Alex is a Ph.D. student who joined the lab in Fall 2022. His main research area lies in Automotive Engineering and Vehicle Dynamics, focusing on improving the sensing capabilities of passenger car tires to detetct hydroplaning risk in real time. His expertise is in experiment design (instrumentation and signal processing), tire testing, and vehicle dynamics (hard pavement and deformable terrain).
Sadegh Yarmohammadisatri
Exp. Degree/Date: Ph.D., May 2027
Research Area: Vehicle Dynamics, Autonomous Vehicles, Multi-body dynamics
Sadegh joined the TMVS lab in Fall 2023 for his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. His research interest are in the area of Vehicle dynamics, Autonomous vehicles, Multi-body dynamics, Tire-road interaction and design optimization. He has 5 years of experience in design and development of automotive suspensions and automotive fuel systems, mainly CNG fuel systems.
Shuainan Yang
Exp. Degree/Date: Ph.D., May 2027
Research Area: Vehicle dynamics, Vehicle system interactions with terrain surfaces, Trajectory and speed optimizations
Shuainan joined the TMVS Lab in Spring 2026. His research interests are vehicle dynamics and autonomous driving on ride comfort, road–vehicle interaction, and reinforcement learning. His expertise is in multi-body dynamics modeling and control oriented simulation, and his current work integrates generative road profile synthesis with preview-aware speed planning.
Tanner Webb
Exp. Degree/Date: M.S., December 2027
Research Area: Vehicle dynamics, Terramechanics, Tire-Terrain interaction in extraterrestial environments
Tanner is pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, bringing prior industry experience in accident reconstruction, forensic engineering, design, and technical writing. He is motivated by the goal of making a meaningful difference in the world, especially by helping to ensure that driving is a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.