Nicholas Barbara

PhD Candidate in Robotics & Control

Australian Centre for Robotics | University of Sydney

Engineer and researcher with a passion for solving challenging problems and making complex systems come to life. I’m currently completing my PhD at the Australian Centre for Robotics (ACFR), where my research involves developing new robust machine learning tools for application in learning-based robotic control.

I'm most interested in working at the intersection of science and engineering. At the moment, my focus is on control systems, reinforcement learning, and robust neural networks. I also dabble in astronomy and space engineering. In my spare time, I love a little bit of cricket and jazz.

To get in touch, please feel free to reach out via email at nicholas.barbara@sydney.edu.au.

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Background

I received a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons 1, University Medal) & Bachelor of Science (Advanced) from the University of Sydney in 2021. My majors were in Space Engineering, Physics, and Mathematics. I completed my honours thesis in vibration control as a visiting researcher at Nearmap, and had previously interned at Saber Astronautics and ISAE-SUPAERO. Before that, I was a student researcher at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA) where I developed a data-driven classification pipeline for asteroseismology.

Research Portfolio

Robust Machine Learning & Control

React to Surprises: Stable-by-Design Neural Feedback Control and the Youla-REN

In preparation (2025).

Nicholas H. Barbara, Ruigang Wang, Alexandre Megretski, Ian R. Manchester

R2DN: Scalable Parameterization of Contracting and Lipschitz Recurrent Deep Networks

Submitted to 64th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (2025)

Nicholas H. Barbara, Ruigang Wang, Ian R. Manchester

Code

On Robust Reinforcement Learning with Lipschitz-Bounded Policy Networks

Spotlight Talk at the Symposium on Systems Theory in Data and Optimization (SysDO 2024)

Nicholas H. Barbara, Ruigang Wang, Ian R. Manchester

arXiv Code

Learning Over Contracting and Lipschitz Closed-Loops for Partially-Observed Nonlinear Systems

62nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (2023)

Nicholas H. Barbara, Ruigang Wang, Ian R. Manchester

Paper arXiv Code

Learning Over All Stabilizing Nonlinear Controllers for a Partially-Observed Linear System

IEEE Control Systems Letters, Vol. 7 (2023)

Ruigang Wang, Nicholas H. Barbara, Max Revay, Ian R. Manchester

Paper arXiv

Asteroseismology

Classifying Kepler light curves for 12 000 A and F stars using supervised feature-based machine learning

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2022)

Nicholas H. Barbara, Timothy R. Bedding, Ben D. Fulcher, Simon J. Murphy, Timothy Van Reeth

Paper arXiv

Finding binaries from phase modulation of pulsating stars with Kepler – VI. Orbits for 10 new binaries with mischaracterized primaries

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2020)

Simon J. Murphy, Nicholas H. Barbara, Daniel Hey, Timothy R. Bedding, Ben D. Fulcher

Paper arXiv

Gravity-mode period spacings and near-core rotation rates of 611 γ Doradus stars with Kepler

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2019)

Gang Li, Timothy Van Reeth, Timothy R Bedding, Simon J Murphy, Victoria Antoci, Rhita-Maria Ouazzani, Nicholas H. Barbara

Paper arXiv

Space Systems Engineering

New GEO paradigm: Re-purposing satellite components from the GEO graveyard

Acta Astronautica (2020)

Nicholas H. Barbara, Stephanie Lizy-Destrez, Paolo Guardabasso, Didier Alary

Paper

The Recycler: an Innovative Approach to On-Orbit Servicing and Repurposing

71st International Astronautical Congress (2020)

Paolo Guardabasso, Michele Pio Savino, Calum Turner, Roberta Valeriani, Marie-Laure Vuyge, Nicholas Barbara, Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez

Paper

Related Software Projects

RobustNeuralNetworks: JAX implementations of robust neural networks developed @ ACFR

In preparation (2025)

Nicholas H. Barbara, Ruigang Wang, Ian R. Manchester

Code

RobustNeuralNetworks.jl: a Package for Machine Learning and Data-Driven Control with Certified Robustness

Proceedings of the JuliaCon Conferences (2025) | Presented at JuliaCon 2023

Nicholas H. Barbara, Max Revay, Ruigang Wang, Jing Cheng, Ian R. Manchester

Paper Code

MuJoCo.jl: Julia Bindings and Visualiser for the MuJoCo Physics Engine

Presented at JuliaCon 2024

Jamie Mair, Nicholas H. Barbara

Code