OUR TEAM

Meet the People Behind AVT

Penn State Advanced Vehicle Team brings together faculty advisors, industry mentors, graduate researchers, and student leaders working across vehicle systems, connected and automated vehicles, propulsion, software, hardware, safety, testing, and project management.

Meet Our Student Leaders
LEADERSHIP & MENTORSHIP

AVT Lead Faculty Advisors and GM Mentor

Faculty and industry mentors provide technical guidance, program leadership, and support for AVT’s engineering activities.

GN
CO-FACULTY ADVISOR (ME)

Gary Neal

BZ
CO-FACULTY ADVISOR (IE)

Brian Zajac

JE
GM MENTOR

Jason Ekelmann

FACULTY & RESEARCH ADVISORS

AVT Advisors

AVT benefits from expertise across autonomous vehicles, controls, robotics, artificial intelligence, transportation, cybersecurity, and systems engineering.

SB

Sean Brennan

Autonomous Vehicles
DE

Donald Ebeigbe

Controls & Robotics
ER

Eric Reischer

ARL R&D Engineer / IT
SD

Satadaru Dey

Systems Controls & Robotics
MS

Madhusudan Singh

Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain Technology & Cyber Security
RG

Romulo Meira Goes

Control and Decision Systems; Security and Privacy
XH

Xianbiao (XB) Hu

Transportation Engineering
IK

Ilya Kovalenko

Systems Controls & Robotics
FALL 2026

Team Leads

AVT’s team leads coordinate technical development, integration, project execution, and collaboration across the student organization.

FALL 2026

Student Leaders

Student leaders coordinate AVT’s technical and operational work across safety, software, project management, hardware, CAV, propulsion, and supporting engineering activities.

LP
SAFETY, INNOVATION & TESTING DH

Lodovico De Ponti

AD
SOFTWARE DH

Ahmad Darami

CK
PROJECT MANAGEMENT DH

Cole Kvasnak

MZ
HARDWARE DH

Michal Zdanowicz

SK
GRAD CAV LEAD

Sakineh Khodadadi

AK
GRAD PROPULSION LEAD

Arifur Khandoker

KS
PM GRAD STUDENT

Kasra Sinaei

AN
CSE GRAD STUDENT

Ali Noureldeen

GET INVOLVED

Want to Work With the AVT Team?

Meet our student leaders, attend a regular team meeting, and explore the technical areas where you can contribute.