Research

The Resilient Infrastructure Networks group is pursuing foundational research in the design of control of infrastructure systems, using game theory and optimization in networks. Our work has contributed to three main areas:

(1) Resilient network control

(2) Information systems and incentive design

(3) Optimal resource allocation in large-scale infrastructure systems.

By focusing on important questions in the domains of highway transportation, electric power, and urban water networks, we develop new theory and design tools for improving the performance of critical infrastructure systems in the face of disruptions, both stochastic and adversarial.

Our agenda is to design network monitoring and control algorithms and economic incentive schemes that help infrastructure users and operators make optimal decisions in the presence of uncertainties. Broadly speaking, our technical approach is to: (i) model the cyber-physical interactions in infrastructures and assess their vulnerabilities; (ii) develop tools to detect and respond to both local and network-level failures; and (iii) design incentive schemes that improve the aggregate levels of public good (such as network decongestion, security, and sustainability), while accounting for the dependencies and private information among strategic entities.

We strive to achieve a good blend of theory and design thinking that enables a rigorous, formal and yet domain-dependent analysis, design, and management of cyber-physical infrastructure systems. Though our domain-dependent research, we contribute to the forefront of game theory, incentive design, learning and adaptive systems, and control of infrastructure networks.

Projects

Current Research Grants:

  1. National Science Foundation (NSF), “D-ISN: TRACK 1: Supply Chain Analysis to Thwart Illegal Logging: Machine Learning-based Monitoring and Strategic Network Inspection,” joint with Profs. Charles F. Harvey (MIT), Dave Des Marais (MIT), Dara Entekhabi (MIT).
  2. MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), “Building Hurricane Resilient Smart Grids: Optimal Resource Allocation and Microgrid Operation,” joint with Prof. Kerry Emanuel (MIT).
  3. C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute, “Pandemic Resilient Urban Mobility: Learning Spatiotemporal Models for Testing, Contact Tracing, and Reopening Decisions,” joint with Prof. Patrick Jaillet (MIT).
  4. AFOSR/RTA2: Complex Networks, “Building Attack Resilience into Complex Networks: Deterrence, Inspection, and Recovery,” joint with Prof. Patrick Jaillet (MIT).
  5. C3.ai. Digital Transformation Institute, “Learning in Routing Games for Sustainable Electromobility,” joint with Profs. Henrik Sandberg, György Dán, Gyözö Gidofalvi (KTH).

 

Past Research Grants:

  1. National Science Foundation (NSF), “CPS: Frontiers: Collaborative Research: Foundations Of Resilient CybEr-physical Systems (FORCES),” joint with Profs. Sastry, Bayen, Schwartz, Song, Tomlin (UC Berkeley), Balakrishnan, Ozdaglar (MIT), Hiskens, Teneketzis (University of Michigan), Gabor, Karsai, Koutsoukos, Sztipanovits (Vanderbilt University). Project website: https://www.cps-forces.org 
  2. National Science Foundation (NSF), “CAREER: Resilient Design of Networked Infrastructure Systems: Models, Validation, and Synthesis”.
  3. Google Faculty Research Award, “Estimating Social Welfare of Traffic Information Systems”. 
  4. Siebel Energy Institute, “Analytics for Resilient Control of Electricity Distribution Networks: Modeling failure models of distributed energy resources and protection equipment”.
  5. Lincoln Laboratory and Modern Technology Solutions, Inc. “Intelligent Constrained Autonomous Strategic Tasking (ICAST)”.
  6. MIT-CEE, “Decentralized and Adaptive Environment Resource Management Strategies,” joint with Prof. Dennis McLaughlin (MIT).
  7. Lincoln Laboratory, “Representative Public Safety Video Testbed” in collaboration with MIT Lincoln Lab.
  8. Air Force Research Laboratory, “Science of secure and resilient cyber-physical systems (SURE),” joint with Prof. Xenofon Koutsoukos (Vanderbilt University), Dusko Pavlovic (University of Hawaii),  and Prof. S. Shankar Sastry (UC Berkeley). 
  9. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), “Modeling the impact of security and reliability failures on resilience of electricity distribution systems,” in collaboration with Électricité de France S.A.
  10. Accenture and MIT Alliance for Business Analytics, “Equipment Sensors for Optimal Process and Maintenance,” Alliance Leads: Prof. David Simchi-Levi (MIT) and Narendra Mulani (Accenture).