Desheng Zhang

Desheng Zhang is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Rutgers University and a Visiting Professor at MIT's Media Lab. His research focuses on bridging Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), Data Science, and AI to address challenges in smart cities, urban infrastructure, and human-CPS interactions. He leads the ARSENAL Lab, which explores topics like mobility modeling, cross-domain data fusion, and equitable urban services.

• PhD: University of Minnesota (Computer Science)
• Postdoc: MIT Senseable City Consortium

Research interests include: Cyber-Physical Systems, Machine Learning, Urban Informatics, and Transportation Systems. His work spans 8 cities across 3 continents, involving 500k vehicles, 10M+ devices, and 100M residents. Key projects include micromobility safety, electric vehicle charging, and last-mile delivery optimization.

Recent grants total over $4.5M as PI, including NSF awards for Human Mobility Prediction and Smart City projects. Notable awards include the 2021 NSF CAREER Award and 8 best paper/thesis prizes.

Students advised include Guang Wang (now at Florida State), Yu Yang (Lehigh), and Yi Ding (MIT Postdoc). His lab focuses on socially-informed decision-making, equitable service governance, and trustworthy AI scheduling.

Awards include the Board of Trustees Research Award (2022), RTSS Outstanding Paper (2020), and MIT Senseable Consortium Fellowship.