Thai Duong is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in Computer Science at Rice University, where he works on efficient robot motion planning with Prof. Lydia Kavraki. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California San Diego in 2024, where he worked on learning environment and dynamics representations for autonomous robot navigation. He received his M.S. degree from Oregon State University and his B.S. degree from Hanoi University of Science and Technology (Vietnam). His research focuses on developing efficient, safe and reliable autonomous robot systems by integrating robot learning, planning and control in a principled manner. His general research interests include robotics, machine learning, control theory, and optimization. His work was recognized by the 2026 Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) Pioneers program, the 2025 Best Paper Award by the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Robot Control, and an Honorable Mention of IEEE Transactions on Robotics King-Sun Fu Memorial Best Paper Award in 2025.