Ahmad G. Ahmad

Postdoctoral researcher fellow in the Automata Lab at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, working with Prof. Kevin Leahy. I earned his Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Boston University in 2026, where I was co-advised by Prof. Calin Belta and Prof. Roberto Tron and was a member of the Hybrid and Networked Systems Group in the BU Robotics Lab. My research sits at the intersection of formal methods, motion planning, and reinforcement learning, with a focus on using temporal logic specifications to enable safe and interpretable behavior in autonomous systems. His work spans the full pipeline from specification and verification to control synthesis and learning, with contributions to quantitative semantics, runtime monitoring, sampling-based planning, and reward shaping for learning under complex spatiotemporal constraints.

2026-Present, Postdoc Fellow at the Automata Lab, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
2021-2026, PhD Systems Engineering, Boston University, PhD Dissertation
2021 (Aug-Nov), Motion Planning and Control Intern @ MERL , Publication
2019-2021, M.S Systems Engineering, Boston University, M.S Thesis, Publication
2019-2020, Lab Technician @ Analog Photonics
2013-2018, B.E of Mechatronics Eng., Palestine Polytechnic University, B.S Thesis , Publication

Publications:

Ahmad Ahmad, Philip Smith, and Kevin Leahy, "Robustness-Based Synthesis for Time Window Temporal Logic Specifications via Mixed-Integer Linear Programming," Submitted, 2026 arXiv preprint
Ahmad Ahmad, Shuo Liu, Roberto Tron, and Calin Belta, "RRT^η: Sampling-based Motion Planning and Control from STL Specifications using Arithmetic-Geometric Mean Robustness" Submitted, 2026 arXiv preprint
Ahmad Ahmad, Mehdi Kermanshah, Kevin Leahy, Zachary Serlin, Ho Chit Siu, Makai Mann, Cristian-Ioan Vasile, Roberto Tron, and Calin Belta, "Accelerating Proximal Policy Optimization Learning Using Task Prediction for Solving Environments with Delayed Rewards" accepted to L4DC 2025, 2024 arXiv preprint
R. Quirynen, Y. Wang, S. Di Cairano, A. Ahmad, Z. Wang, A. BHAGAT, E. Zeino, "System and Method for Controlling Movement of a Vehicle", US patent: US20240059317A1, 2024 link
Ahmad Ahmad, Cristian-Ioan Vasile, Roberto Tron, and Calin Belta, "Robustness Measures and Monitoring for Time Window Temporal Logic" 62nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2023 arXiv preprint , GitHub_toolbox
Guang Yang, Mingyu Cai, Ahmad Ahmad, Calin Belta, Roberto Tron, "Efficient LQR-CBF-RRT*: Safe and Optimal Motion Planning", 2023 arXiv preprint, GitHub link
Ahmad Ahmad, Calin Belta, and Roberto Tron, "Adaptive Sampling-based Motion Planning with Control Barrier Functions" 61st IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), Cancun, Mexico, 2022 arXiv preprint
Z. Wang, A. Ahmad, R. Quirynen, Y. Wang, A. Bhagat, E. Zeino, Y. Zushi, and S. Di Cairano,"Motion Planning and Model Predictive Control for Automated Tractor-Trailer Hitching Maneuver" 6th IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA), Italy, 2022 link

Service (reviewer):

IEEE CDC & ACC 2023, 2024
IEEE RA-L (with ICRA submission) 2022
IEEE IROS 2023, 2024
IEEE CCTA 2022
MRS 2023
IJRR 2024
Automatica 2024

News

Our work on "Accelerating Proximal Policy Optimization Learning Using Task Prediction for Solving Environments with Delayed Rewards" got accepted to L4DC 2025 :) arXiv preprint
Our work on introducing a safe and optimal motion planning algorithm (preprint ) has been accepted to ACC25!
On Jan-26 2025, I will present our recent work at the 11th CISE Graduate Student Workshop. Event's agenda.
I have presented our recent work, Accelerating Proximal Policy Optimization Learning Using Task Prediction for Solving Environments with Delayed Rewards, at Palestine Polytechnic University, my undergraduate institute. Event's details
I will defend my PhD prospectus on Oct-24-2024 :) event's details
I will be heading to Toronto in July 2024 to attend ACC24! I will be presenting a couple of works on safe navigation and control.
Our work on introducing robustness measures and monitors for time window temporal logic (preprint ) has been accepted to CDC23. I will be heading to Singapore in Dec 2023 to present the work!
Our work on adaptive sampling motion planning with CBFs (arXiv link) got accepted to CDC22. I will be heading to Cancun, Mexico in Dec 2022 to present the work!

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