Kaiqing Zhang

Kaiqing Zhang is an Assistant Professor jointly appointed in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Institute for Systems Research (ISR) at the University of Maryland, College Park, with additional affiliations in Computer Science (CS), the Center for Machine Learning, Maryland Robotics Center (MRC), and the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM). His academic appointments reflect interdisciplinary expertise spanning control theory, reinforcement learning, and multi-agent systems.

His research focuses on theoretical foundations of learning-based control with emphasis on multi-agent systems, safety-critical applications, and intersections of game theory with machine learning. Key interests include provable algorithms for reinforcement learning, distributed decision-making under uncertainty, and robust control frameworks for cyber-physical systems like robotics and smart grids. His methodology integrates tools from control theory, game theory, operations research, and probability theory to develop mathematically rigorous solutions.

Recent publications reveal a strong trajectory in multi-agent reinforcement learning (particularly zero-sum and potential games), partially observable systems, and LLM-based decision agents. His work consistently bridges theoretical guarantees with practical applications in robotics and autonomous systems, as evidenced by awards like the ICML Outstanding Paper Award for differentiable simulators.

• AFOSR Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award
• NSF CAREER Award
• AAAI New Faculty Highlights
• ICML Outstanding Paper Award
• IEEE RAS TC Best-Paper Award
• CSL Ph.D. Thesis Award

He actively mentors Ph.D. students with strong mathematical backgrounds, as highlighted by his recruitment for self-motivated candidates in control, learning, and game theory. His professional service includes Area Chair roles at top conferences (ICML, NeurIPS) and leadership in the Tsinghua University Alumni Association at UIUC. Zhang's lab ecosystem integrates the Maryland Robotics Center and UMIACS for robotics-focused theoretical work.