Negar Mehr

Negar Mehr is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley, where she leads the Intelligent Control (ICON) Lab. Her research focuses on developing mathematical models and algorithms that enable autonomous systems to interact safely, intelligently, and predictably with humans and other autonomous agents in complex, unstructured environments. Her work lies at the intersection of robotics, control theory, game theory, and machine learning, with an emphasis on decision-making frameworks that capture multi-agent dynamics, safety guarantees, and strategic interactions. Mehr’s research has been applied to a wide range of domains, including autonomous driving, UAV coordination, space exploration, and assistive robotics. Before joining Berkeley, she was an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a postdoctoral scholar in Stanford’s Aeronautics and Astronautics department. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and her B.Sc. from Sharif University of Technology. Her work has earned significant recognition, including the NSF CAREER Award and the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award. She has been identified as a rising star in multiple engineering disciplines, reflecting the broad impact of her contributions to safe and intelligent autonomy.