John  Z.  Zhang 

profile_pic_2025.jpg

70 Vassar St,

Cambridge, MA, 02142

I am a robotics Ph.D. candidate at MIT AeroAstro advised by Zac Manchester in the MIT REx Lab.

Before moving to MIT, I was a Ph.D. candidate in the Robotics Instutite at CMU and a research intern at the RAI Institute. I received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Gerogia Tech and an M.S. in Robotics from CMU.

research

I’m broadly interested in developing optimization and machine learning algorithms that enable robots to interact with the world with agility, dexterity, and reliability.

email / cv / github / google scholar / linkedin / x

selected publications

  1. trajectory_bundle_method.png
    The Trajectory Bundle Method: Unifying Sequential-Convex Programming and Sampling-Based Trajectory Optimization
    Kevin Tracy, John Z. Zhang, Jon Arrizabalaga, Stefan Schaal, Yuval Tassa, Tom Erez, and Zachary Manchester
    In IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2026
    arXiv PDF
  2. quadruped_handstand.gif
    Whole-Body Model-Predictive Control of Legged Robots with MuJoCo
    John Z. Zhang, Taylor A. Howell, Zeji Yi, Chaoyi Pan, Guanya Shi, Guannan Qu, Tom Erez, Yuval Tassa, and Zachary Manchester
    In IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2026
    arXiv PDF Website
  3. mppi.png
    Real-Time Whole-Body Control of Legged Robots with Model-Predictive Path Integral Control
    Juan Alvarez-Padilla, John Z. Zhang, Sofia Kwok, John M. Dolan, and Zachary Manchester
    In IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2025
    arXiv PDF Website
  4. push_recovery_cropped.gif
    ReLU-QP: A GPU-Accelerated Quadratic Programming Solver for Model-Predictive Control
    Arun L. Bishop*, John Z. Zhang*, Swaminathan Gurumurthy, Kevin Tracy, and Zachary Manchester
    In IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (*equal contribution), 2024
    PDF Code Video
  5. dog_reach_compiled.gif
    SLoMo: A General System for Legged Robot Motion Imitation from Casual Videos
    John Z. Zhang, Shuo Yang, Gengshan Yang, Arun Bishop, Swaminathan Gurumurthy, Deva Ramanan, and Zachary Manchester
    In IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2023
    PDF Code Website Video