Associate Professor & Associate Dean for Research
Abhishek Dubey is an Associate Professor of Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Electrical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, where he also serves as Associate Dean for Research at the College of Connected Computing and as a Chancellor Faculty Fellow (2024–2026). He directs the SCOPE Lab at Vanderbilt’s Institute for Software-Integrated Systems (ISIS), a research group focused on solving real-world challenges in societal-scale cyber-physical systems through AI and machine learning.
His broad research interest is in decision-making under uncertainty for societal-scale Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) with a focus on three domains: transportation and mobility, emergency response, and electric infrastructure. His work has produced operational deployments in public transit systems, energy infrastructure, and emergency response operations across Tennessee and the Southeast — from AI-driven paratransit and microtransit systems serving thousands of passengers daily, to energy optimization platforms managing smart buildings and EV charging networks, to decision support tools for fire and EMS agencies.
Dr. Dubey recently completed an IPA assignment as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, where he managed the Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), Smart and Connected Communities (SCC), and Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) programs. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2022) and an IEEE Senior Member.
Abhishek holds a Ph.D. (2009) and M.S. (2005) in Electrical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and a B.Tech (Honors) in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) BHU Varanasi (2001).
My research is motivated by a simple question: how can we design AI systems that make better decisions for society at scale? I believe the most impactful computing research translates to real-world impact. Rather than working on problems in isolation, I work directly with transit agencies, utilities, emergency responders, and other civic institutions to understand their decision-making challenges, co-design AI solutions, and evaluate them in production environments.
This approach has several implications for how I think about research:
Fidelity to Reality: Working with real systems means dealing with incomplete information, legacy constraints, and stakeholder heterogeneity. These aren’t edge cases—they’re the norm.
Societal Impact: Good research should improve outcomes for individuals and communities. Whether it’s safer emergency response, more equitable transit access, or cleaner energy systems, the success metric is human and societal benefit.
Methodological Diversity: Solving real problems requires a toolkit spanning AI/ML, optimization, distributed systems, and human-computer interaction. Disciplinary purity is less important than finding what works.
Open Science: The problems we solve should benefit everyone. When possible, we open-source our tools and share data with the research community.
Academic Leadership:
Conference Leadership:
Professional Service:
Abhishek has designed and teaches several courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels:
Commercial Systems:
Research Systems:
USDOT 2026-2030
VU Share: $3,000,000 (Total Award: $8,660,000)
DOE 2024-2027
VU Share: $600,000 (Total Award: $3,290,000)
TDOT 2024-2026
VU Share: $29,900 (Total Award: $100,000)
TNECD 2024-2025
VU Share: $190,000 (Total Award: $500,000)
TDOT 2022-2025
$208,000
FTA 2021-2024
VU Share: $216,000 (Total Award: $120,000)
DOE 2018-2021
VU Share: $355,000 (Total Award: $1,000,000)
NSF 2018-2021
VU Share: $239,000 (Total Award: $499,000)
NSF 2018-2021
VU Share: $209,000 (Total Award: $449,000)
NSF 2016-2020
VU Share: $306,000 (Total Award: $600,000)
NSF 2015-2017
$197,000
Vanderbilt University 2017-2019
$29,900
ONR 2012-2013
$40,500
Siemens 2025-2026
$200,000
Nissan 2022-2025
$634,000
Cisco 2023-2025
$100,000
Cisco 2019-2020
$100,000
Cisco 2021-2022
$100,000
Siemens 2017-2019
$478,000
Siemens 2016-2019
$450,000
Siemens 2016-2017
$49,800
Siemens 2014-2016
$238,000
Industry 2017-2018
$172,000
VSEC 2025-2027
$299,000
Nashville Innovation Alliance 2025-2026
$59,900
Mobius Inc 2024-2025
$80,000
DARPA 2023-2027
PI: Gabor Karsai
$5,670,000
DARPA 2018-2026
PI: Gabor Karsai
$7,190,000
DARPA 2018-2026
PI: Gabor Karsai
$9,260,000
DOE 2016-2020
PI: Gabor Karsai
$3,990,000
DARPA 2020-2023
PI: Gabor Karsai
$3,170,000
DARPA 2014-2016
PI: Gabor Karsai
$96,000
DARPA 2011-2014
PI: Gabor Karsai
$6,240,000
DOD 2012-2013
PI: Thomas Bapty
$3,570,000
NSF 2018-2025
PI: Aniruddha Biswas
$323,000
NSF 2019-2025
PI: Gautam Biswas
$631,000
AFOSR 2016-2017
PI: Aniruddha Gokhale
$95,400
NSF 2016-2019
PI: Yevgeniy Vorobeychik
$199,000
AFRL 2012-2014
PI: Gabor Karsai
$699,000