Saba Kharabadze

PhD in Physics | ML Research Engineer | CNIT RaSS Lab, Pisa, Italy

prof_pic.jpg

ML Research Engineer

Lab RaSS, CNIT

Pisa, PI, Italy

I build machine learning systems for scientific and engineering problems, focusing on scalable training in HPC environments (JAX, PyTorch, C/C++). My work is driven by a fascination with how AI can be used to model and reason about the physical world.

I earned my PhD in Physics from Binghamton University in 2024, where I developed neural network potentials to accelerate materials discovery - research published in npj Computational Materials (Nature Partner Journal). Alongside my research, I also administered the university high-performance computing resources.

Currently, I am a Research Engineer at CNIT RaSS Lab in Italy, where I recently won the IEEE Radar Challenge by developing a Transformer-based pipeline for robust heartbeat monitoring.

Alongside my core engineering work, I maintain a focus on AI evaluation and technical pedagogy. Drawing on my background as an early EdTech founder and Physics Olympiad coach, I currently work on stress-testing AI models to ensure they can navigate complex physical reasoning with precision and reliability.

selected publications

  1. IEEE AESS
    heartbeat_preview.png
    Physics-Guided Transformer Modeling of Radar-Based Heartbeat Monitoring in Dynamic Scenarios
    Amir Hosein Oveis, Mateo Pardi, Saba Kharabadze, and 1 more author
    Sep 2025
    Winning proposal for the 2026 IEEE AESS Heartbeat Challenge
  2. npj Comput. Mater.
    lisn_preview.png
    Prediction of stable Li-Sn compounds: boosting ab initio searches with neural network potentials
    Saba Kharabadze, Aidan Thorn, Ekaterina A. Koulakova, and 1 more author
    npj Computational Materials, 2022
  3. CPC
    maise_preview.png
    MAISE: Construction of neural network interatomic models and evolutionary structure optimization
    Samad Hajinazar, Aidan Thorn, Ernesto D. Sandoval, and 2 more authors
    Computer Physics Communications, 2021