In This Story
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has granted one of the most prestigious early-career honors to Ningshi Yao, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at George Mason University. The NSF CAREER Award, funded by the Energy, Power, Control, and Learning (EPCL) Program, recognizes Yao’s pioneering work. The five-year $628K grant will support her research on ensuring the safety, reliability, and efficiency of interconnected real-time control systems.
Resolving Correlated Resource Contention
From intelligent transportation networks to smart manufacturing, modern infrastructure increasingly relies on shared resources, physical space, power grids, cloud computing, and communication networks. Simultaneous demands, however, often lead to correlated resource contention, causing unpredictable delays that can result in catastrophic system failures.
Yao’s research introduces a transformative theoretical framework “Schedu-stability.” This new mathematical paradigm provides a joint guarantee of both scheduling feasibility and control system stability. By creating decentralized optimization tools, her lab enables large-scale systems to intelligently manage resources in real-time. Notably, the framework generates high-quality data to enhance imitation learning and reinforcement learning models, bridging the gap between her rigorous control theory and advanced machine learning.
"Our goal is to create new mathematical methods that allow large-scale networked systems to smartly schedule actions and compensate for time delays in real-time," said Yao. "This project establishes the first unified analytical theory linking non-linear timing dynamics with physical stability guarantees."
A Milestone for STEM Education: Scaling the Airborne Robotics Cup (ARC)
A cornerstone of this CAREER project is Yao’s commitment to cultivating a diverse engineering workforce through the expansion of the Airborne Robotics Cup (ARC). Originally launched in 2025 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, ARC is a low-cost robotic blimp competition designed by Yao where middle and high-school students gain hands-on experience with networked real-time robotic systems through 3D aerial “soccer” matches.
The robotic blimp platform emphasizes safety, affordability, and accessibility. Each kit costs less than $200, and many components are built from everyday materials like foam board and trash bags, ensuring that students from all socioeconomic backgrounds can participate.
Under leadership of Yao and her graduate students, participants undergo six weeks of hands-on training before facing off in an aerial soccer match on the final competition day. The program prioritizes engineering thinking and resilience over trophies.
"ARC is about learning how to overcome setbacks," she said.
With official NSF support, ARC is now scaling nationally and is recruiting approximately 50 middle and high school students for the 2026 competition. Prospective participants can find more information via the Official Website of ARC.
A Leader in Multidisciplinary Research
This NSF CAREER award further solidifies Yao’s position as a leader in autonomous systems and robotics at George Mason. As the director of the Control, Intelligent Autonomy, and Optimization (CIAO) Lab, her research vision is supported by a prestigious portfolio of federal agencies.
Beyond the NSF, Yao currently serves as the principal investigator on research initiatives funded by the National Institutes of Health, including a high-impact R01 grant, and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) through the Natural EXTension (NEXT) program. This multi-agency support highlights the critical importance of her work across the health care, defense, and infrastructure sectors.