Max Cohen

Max Cohen is a Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate in the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). His research focuses on safety-critical control systems, adaptive control, and the integration of control barrier functions with reinforcement learning. He explores theoretical frameworks for robust control design in nonlinear systems, emphasizing safety guarantees through formal verification methods.

His work addresses challenges in automated vehicle navigation, hybrid systems, and rehabilitation engineering using functional electrical stimulation (FES). Key research directions include uncertainty quantification in adaptive systems, layered control architectures, and safe exploration strategies in model-based reinforcement learning.

Publications span topics like control barrier function synthesis, temporal logic-guided learning, and reduced-order modeling for safety-critical applications. Current research trends emphasize bridging formal methods with data-driven control paradigms to ensure safe operation in complex robotic and cyber-physical systems.

No scientific awards or grants are explicitly mentioned in the provided information. His office is located in Gates-Thomas Laboratory (Room 300), and he actively contributes to interdisciplinary projects at Caltech's engineering division.