Shirantha Welikala

Shirantha Welikala is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology's Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science. He joined Stevens in Fall 2023 after serving as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Notre Dame. His research focuses on the analysis, control synthesis, and topology design of large-scale networked systems using dissipativity theory, with applications spanning vehicular platoons, smart grids, and multi-agent systems.

His research interests encompass control and optimization of cooperative multi-agent systems, networked systems control, passivity-based control, and machine learning applications in robotics and smart grids. Key areas include:

• Distributed control synthesis for networked systems
• Dissipativity-based co-design of controllers and topologies
• Multi-agent coverage optimization
• Event-driven control strategies

Publications demonstrate strong focus on control theory and optimization, with recent emphasis on decentralized approaches, performance guarantees, and real-world applications. Research consistently bridges theoretical contributions with practical implementations in cyber-physical systems.

Dr. Welikala has received significant recognition including:

• Best Paper Award at Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (2022)
• Rising Star in Cyber-Physical Systems (2022)
• President's Award for Scientific Research from Sri Lanka (2022, 2019)
• Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award from Boston University (2021)

He actively seeks PhD students for research in networked systems and mentors through courses including EE 602 (Analytical Methods) and EE/CPE 345 (Modeling and Simulation).

Dr. Welikala leads research in intelligent control systems, collaborating with industry partners to translate theoretical advances into practical solutions for next-generation interconnected systems.