Yongxin Chen

Yongxin Chen is an Associate Professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2011) and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota (2016). Prior to joining Georgia Tech, he held positions as a Research Fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2016-2017) and an Assistant Professor at Iowa State University (2017-2018).

His research spans control theory, machine learning, robotics, and optimal transport. Key areas include developing efficient MCMC algorithms, advancing diffusion models for generative AI, and integrating uncertainty synthesis into control systems. He leads the Foundations of Learning And Intelligent Robots (FLAIR) lab, relocated to Georgia Tech's CODA building in 2024, focusing on systems that harmonize autonomy, stochastic control, and optimization.

• 2023: Best Paper at NeurIPS and CoRL, plenary talks at ACC and MTNS.
• 2022: Donald P. Eckman Award, plenary talk at ACC.
• 2021: Simons-Berkeley Fellowship and Balakrishnan Award.
• 2020: NSF CAREER Award.

His recent publications emphasize diffusion models (e.g., DEIS, gDDIM, DiffCollage) and optimal transport applications. He has graduated three PhD students and mentors active researchers in generative AI, robotics, and control theory. Collaborations include institutions like Duke, University of Minnesota, and international visitors.