Aaquib Tabrez

I am a Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University in the HRC² Lab, working with Prof. Guy Hoffman.

My work bridges algorithmic decision-making and human-centered design to build trustworthy autonomous systems. I develop autonomous agents and robots that can communicate, collaborate, and teach people, with a focus on fluency, transparency, and appropriate trust. My work has been recognized by Best Paper nominations at HRI and AAMAS, and I have been selected as an RSS and HRI Pioneer.

I was a Postdoctoral Scholar at USC, advised by Prof. Stefanos Nikolaidis. I received my Ph.D. in Computer Science from CU Boulder, advised by Prof. Bradley Hayes. I have an Masters in Mechanical Engineering (Robotics & Control) from CU Boulder and a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from NITK Surathkal, India.

✦ 📰 I am on the Academic Job Market!
✦ 🗣️ Name: My full name is Mohd Aaquib Tabrez, but I go by Aaquib Tabrez, pronounced AH-kihb tuh-BREYZ.

Research

I design algorithms (the “brain”) and interfaces (the communication channel) that enable autonomous agents to collaborate with people as transparent, robust teammates in real-world settings such as homes, factories, and healthcare. My research draws from Human-Robot Interaction, Explainable AI, Reinforcement Learning, and Foundation Models with the following themes:

• Skill Coaching and Reliance.
  I develop autonomous agents that act as coaches, helping people learn and perform better in both embodied and non-embodied tasks. I also look into mechanisms to preserve human expertise and prevent the skill degradation that often arises from over-reliance on automation.
  
• Joint Adaptation and Robustness.
  I study methods that enable humans and agents to adapt together in real-world settings. This includes learning from partners, stress-testing agents and teams through red-teaming, and developing mechanisms for failure detection and recovery as tasks, environments, and human strategies evolve.
  
• Explainable Decision Support.
  I design decision-support systems (e.g., search operations, autonomous driving) that communicate reasoning via multimodal interfaces (language, AR) to proactively support human decision-making. I also investigate trust calibration, appropriate reliance, and responsible AI deployment.

Other Interests

• Literature + Philosophy: I enjoy reading philosophy and literature, particularly existentialism, stoicism, and taoism. Some of my favorite books include The Stranger by Albert Camus, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and the essays of Michel de Montaigne.
• Poetry: I also love spending time on poetry; some of my favorite poets are Emily Dickinson and Rumi.
• Dance: I enjoy music and dancing, including swing dancing, salsa, and bachata.
• Outdoors: I enjoy spending time outdoors running and hiking. Some of my favorite places to hike include Colorado and Scotland.