Areas of Research
Students & Supervision
Ongoing and completed supervision of Ph.D., M.Tech., and B.Sc. Honors students.
Ph.D. Supervision (Ongoing)
2-
Afzal Ali
Ongoing · Joined January 2026
-
Ganesh Sidar
Ongoing · Joined January 2026
M.Tech. Supervision (Ongoing)
1-
Ayush Kumar Pandey
Ongoing · Joined July 2025
B.Sc. Honors (University of Ottawa)
2-
Khaled Elbasiouni
B.Sc. Honors Project · University of Ottawa · Completed
Project: Asynchronous Simulator for Mobile Robots
Co-supervised with Prof. Paola Flocchini
-
Diego Bajetti
B.Sc. Honors Project · University of Ottawa · Completed
Project: Asynchronous Simulator for Mobile Robots
Co-supervised with Prof. Paola Flocchini
Why Distributed Algorithms?
Distributed algorithms are crucial for building scalable, robust, and efficient systems.
Scale
Add or remove components without downtime for massive scalability.
Robustness
Ensure resilience against failures, making systems fault-tolerant.
Parallelism
Leverage parallel processing to dramatically speed up computations.
Asynchrony
Allow components to work independently without tight synchronization.
Popular Problems in Distributed Computing
A taste of what research in distributed algorithms entails.
Leader Election
How can a group of robots elect a leader to coordinate tasks without a central authority?
Rendezvous Problem
Two robots must meet at a common point in an unknown environment without prior communication.
Treasure Hunt
Robots search for a treasure in a grid, learning to coordinate their movements efficiently.
Pattern Formation
Robots arrange themselves in specific geometric shapes through local interactions only.
Recommended Books
Standard references to build a solid foundation in distributed computing and mobile robotics.
Distributed Computing by Mobile Entities
Paola Flocchini, Giuseppe Prencipe, Nicola Santoro (Eds.) · Springer, 2019
The definitive reference on mobile robots, mobile agents, and programmable particles — the models at the heart of my research.
Springer →Distributed Computing: A Locality-Sensitive Approach
David Peleg · SIAM, 2000
The classic text on locality in distributed network algorithms — spanners, labeling schemes, and low-communication computation.
SIAM →Distributed Computing: Principles, Algorithms, and Systems
Ajay D. Kshemkalyani, Mukesh Singhal · Cambridge University Press, 2008
A comprehensive textbook covering the fundamentals — logical time, global states, mutual exclusion, consensus, and self-stabilization.
Cambridge →Distributed Algorithms 2020
Juho Hirvonen, Jukka Suomela · Free online book
A modern, freely available introduction to distributed graph algorithms — the LOCAL, CONGEST, and port-numbering models. A great first read.
Read free →Current Research Topics
Look-Compute-Move Model
The foundational framework in distributed computing for mobile robots.
- Look: Observe the environment and gather information about other robots.
- Compute: Process the information to make decisions based on local algorithms.
- Move: Act based on computations to achieve goals collaboratively.
Dispersion Problem
Scatter k mobile robots on an n-node graph ensuring each robot occupies a unique node.
Challenges
- • Robots are anonymous with limited memory
- • Synchronous or asynchronous settings
- • Directed or undirected graphs
- • Byzantine (faulty) robots can disrupt
Recent Results
Optimal time algorithms for dispersion in synchronous and asynchronous models, with solutions for directed graphs and faulty robots.
Circle Formation Problem
Arrange n autonomous mobile robots equally spaced on the circumference of a circle.
Challenges
- • Robots are anonymous and oblivious
- • No memory of previous states
- • Circle center and radius not predefined
Recent Results
Optimal algorithm in terms of colors required, with established trade-offs between time and number of colors.
Black Hole Search Problem
Locate a "black hole" (a harmful node that destroys incoming agents) in a network.
Challenges
- • Some agents can be Byzantine (malicious)
- • Agents may or may not have a network map
- • Various communication models
Recent Results
Established the number of agents needed and time complexity under various conditions, including Byzantine agents.
Simulators & Visualizations
All simulators →Interactive simulators for different mobile robot models, including the Black Hole Search simulator — a good starting point for a first project.
Collaborator Network
Research is a global endeavor — co-authors from institutions around the world.
IIT Guwahati
H. Ramesh, P. S. Mandal
IIT Jodhpur
Subhash Bhagat
IIT Madras
John Augustine
IIT Ropar
Kaushik Mondal
ISI Kolkata
Anisur Rahaman Molla
Jadavpur University
Sruti Gan Chaudhuri
Carleton University, Canada
Nicola Santoro
Kent State University, USA
Gokarna Sharma
Kyushu University, Japan
Masafumi Yamashita, Yukiko Yamauchi
Luiss University, Rome, Italy
Giuseppe F. Italiano
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Giuseppe Antonio Di Luna
TU Berlin, Germany
Stefan Schmid
TU Dortmund, Germany
Klaus-Tycho Förster
UIC, USA
Ajay D. Kshemkalyani
University of Ioannina, Greece
Loukas Georgiadis, Evangelos Kosinas
University of Milan, Italy
Caterina Feletti
University of Ottawa, Canada
Paola Flocchini
University of Perugia, Italy
Francesco Piselli, Alfredo Navarra
University of Pisa, Italy
Giuseppe Prencipe
UQO, Canada
Andrzej Pelc
Ready to Start Your Research Journey?
If you're passionate about distributed algorithms and want to explore research with me, please include the essentials that make a first discussion productive.
CV or academic resume
Relevant coursework and grades
Research interests or problem areas
Prior projects, papers, or code links