Adeel Akhtar

Assistant Professor, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
About Me
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), located in NJ, USA. I hold a Ph.D. from the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, specializing in the field of aerial robotics and controls. Before that, I pursued my MASc degree in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the same esteemed university, focusing on controls and robotics. My academic journey began with a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST).
Education
Ph.D.; University of Waterloo; Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering; 2018
M.S.; University of Waterloo; Electrical and Computer Engineering; 2012
B.E.; National University of Sciences and Technology; Mechatronics Engineering; 2006
Office Hours
Tuesdays 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
Website
https://adeelakhtar.com/
2026 Fall Courses
ME 490 - MECH ENGR PROJECT A
ME 701B - MASTER'S THESIS
ME 305 - INTRO TO SYSTEM DYNAMICS
ME 491 - MECH ENGR PROJECT B
ME 792B - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
ME 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
ME 790A - DOC DISSERTATION & RES
ME 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
ME 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT
ME 701C - MASTER'S THESIS
Teaching Interests
Robotics
System Dynamics
Feedback Controls
Nonlinear Systems
Geometric Controls
Past Courses
IE 791: GRADUATE SEMINAR
ME 305: INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEM DYNAMICS
ME 791: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM
Research Interests
Aerial Robotics
Path Invariant Controllers
Hybrid Controls
Feedback Linearization
Robust Global Controls
Hybrid Geometric Controls
Conference Proceeding
"Global Accelerated Nonconvex Geometric Optimization Methods on SO (3)"
2023.
"A Class of Hybrid Geometric Controllers for Robust Global Asymptotic Stabilization on S"
2022.
"Coordinated Path Following for a Class of Underactuated Multi-Agent System Using Nested Set Stabilization"
2022.
"Hybrid Geometric Controllers for Fully-Actuated Left-invariant Systems on Matrix Lie Groups"
2022.
"Feedback Linearizing Controllers on SO(3) using a Global Parametrization"
2020.
"Fault tolerant path following for a quadrotor"
2013.
Journal Article
Adeel Akhtar, Sajid Saleem, Jinjun Shan. 2022. "Path following of a quadrotor with a cable-suspended payload." IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 1646--1654.
Adeel Akhtar, Sajid Saleem, Jinjun Shan. 2021. "Path invariant controllers for a quadrotor with a cable-suspended payload using a global parameterization." IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 2002--2017.
Adeel Akhtar, Steven Waslander. 2020. "Controller Class for Rigid Body Tracking on SO(3)." IEEE Transactions on Automatic Controls.
Adeel Akhtar, Christopher Nielsen, Steven L Waslander. 2015. "Path following using dynamic transverse feedback linearization for car-like robots." IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 269--279.