About

Designing the Future of Learning Robots, From Earth to Orbit

Student in the lab working with robotics equipment.

The ELIXIR Lab: Where Space Robotics Descends to Earth to Learn, Think, Move, and Adapt Like Humans

The Embodied Learning and Intelligence for eXploration and Innovative soft Robotics (ELIXIR) Lab is a graduate research lab in the Department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Mechatronics Engineering. The lab builds on a strong foundation in space robotics research, originally established at Carleton University, where the Principal Investigator held the Canada Research Chair in Autonomous Space Robotics and Mechatronics, and subsequently in Cognitive Soft Space Robotics. At ELIXIR Lab, we focus on advancing embodied artificial intelligence, soft robotics, and autonomous systems that can adapt and learn. Our research combines theory and real-world applications, designing smarter control and navigation strategies for robots used everywhere from home assistance and medical devices to drones and space missions.

We use tools like geometric mechanics, reinforcement learning, and neural control to create robots that can handle uncertainty and unexpected situations. A big part of our work is making sure these systems are reliable in the real world, not just in the lab. We design robotic systems that bring together hardware (mechanical and electrical parts) and software (computation and control) to work as a seamless whole.

At the ELIXIR Lab, we are working to close the gap between today’s physical robots and tomorrow’s truly intelligent machines. Our goal is to create robots that can learn from their environments, adapt to new challenges, and operate independently in messy, unpredictable settings, on Earth and beyond.

Group Members

Director

Robin Chhabra, PEng
Founder and Director

Advisory Board

Farzaneh's portrait picture with a white background

Farzaneh Abdollahi
Associate Professor, Amirkabir University of Technology

Wei's portrait with a black gradient background

Wei Huang, PEng
Chief Engineer, National Research Council of Canada (NRC)

Joseph's portrait with a white background

Joseph Bakambu
Sr. Engineering Manager of the GNC Department at MDA Space.

Postdocs

Salim Rezvani
TMU
2025–

Mahboubeh Zarei
TMU
2025–

Graduate Students

Vaughn Gzenda
TMU
PhD Student (2023- )

Kyle Manke
Carleton University (Co-supervised with Dr. Ahmadi)
PhD Student (2024-)

Muhammed Mujeeb
TMU
PhD Student (2025-)

Nargess Sayadian
TMU
PhD Student (2025–)

Vincent Lam
TMU
MASc Student (2025-)

Benjamin Chung
TMU (Co-supervised with Dr. Sharifi)
MASc Student (2025-)

Martin Do Pham
University of Toronto (Co-supervised with Dr. Dehnavi)
MASc Student (2023-)

Undergraduate Students

Joshua Penafiel
TMU 2024-

Juan Forero Baquero
TMU 2024-

Joel Valley
TMU 2024-

Om Chhugani
TMU 2024-

Rohan Mistry
TMU 2024-

Ammar Jaleel Mahmood
TMU 2024-

Saad Khan
TMU 2024-

Hamza Musaddaq
TMU 2024-

Minh Quan Nguyen
TMU 2024-

Wyatt Ewart
TMU 2024-

Nishant Rana
Neotia University (visiting) 2024-

Domenic Bombino
TMU 2024-

Alishba Aamir
TMU 2024-

Nick Melnyk
TMU 2024-

Rida-E Fatima
TMU 2024-

Sajid Elbattay
TMU 2024-

Eugene Vorobiov
TMU 2024-

Alumni

Mohammadjavad Javadi (OGS, $15K/year)
PhD
Carleton University
2025

Mahboubeh Zarei Jalalabadi (J.Y. E.W. Wong Award $5K, Nominated for University Medal)
PhD
Carleton University
2025

Sahand Farghdani
PhD
Carleton University
2025

Priyam Panchal
MEng
Carleton University
2024

Omar Abdelrahman
MEng
Carleton University
2023

Mili Patel (I-CUREUS)
Undergrad RA
Carleton University
2024

Borna Monazzah Moghaddam
PhD
Carleton University
2024

Philip Okotete
MASc
Carleton University
2024

Zach Morin-Barich (NSERC USRA)
Undergrad RA
Carleton University
2023

Sean Dauphinee
Undergrad RA
Carleton University
2023

Hon Yin Sze (NSERC USRA)
Undergrad RA/Co-op
Carleton University
2022

Hossain Md. Samei
MASc
Carleton University
2022

Patrick Rousso (Nominated for University Medal)
MASc
Carleton University
2022

Adam Holcik
Undergrad RA
Carleton University
2024

Justin Mansell
Intern
Carleton University
2018

Mayur Nunkoo
Undergrad Student
Undergraduate student at Carleton University, Mechanical & Aerospace
2020

Malav Naik
Intern
MASc student at Purdue University, Aeronautics & Astronautics
2021

Mohammadreza Mottaghi
MASc Student (Nominated for the University Medal)
Research Assistant at ASRoM-Lab
2021

Sanaz Samsam
MASc Student
SIL Software Integration Engineer at General Motors
2021

Santiago Martinez Acevedo
Undergrad Student
Junior Member of Technical Staff at MDA
2022