Dominik Bauer is a Mechanical Engineer and Roboticist who has been designing dexterous and low-cost soft robotic hands for over 7 years. His research combines rapid prototyping techniques, design optimization, and machine learning to make robot hands more accessible and easier to use. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Dominik holds a B.Sc and M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. 

His research involves automating the design process of soft robotic hands through a combination of computer-aided design (CAD), optimization, simulation, and motion capture.  Dominik is a member of the AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture (AIIRA), where he is exploring the application of soft robot hands for automated harvesting, to increase the deployment of robots in real-world environments. He co-founded his startup FuturHand Robotics, to bring dexterous robotic solutions to market where they can help combat labor shortages, drive productivity, and automate dull, dangerous, and dirty jobs.

Mitchell B. Fogelson earned his B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering (2017) and M.S.E. in Robotics (2018) from the University of Pennsylvania. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, co-advised by Dr. Zachary Manchester and Dr. Jonathan Cagan. His research focuses on advanced simulation and optimization methods for mechanical metamaterials and robotic systems.

In 2023, Mitchell founded Beyond Reach Labs, Inc. to commercialize his research on novel extending structures that were developed through a NASA grant exploring large-scale space structures for artificial gravity. Beyond Reach Labs has since expanded its designs to address issues like transportation volume constraints and on-site labor limitations, with applications in deployable communication towers for disaster relief, ultra-compact stretchers, and lunar habitat construction. Mitchell is also a visiting resident at the Robotics Factory through the Scale initiative.

Sam Gershanok is a Ph.D candidate in the Cohen-Karni Lab. He received his B.S. in Materials Science Engineering from University of Pittsburgh and is a proud Pittsburgh native.

Sam strives to create healthcare devices that alleviate patients suffering while improving clinicians' understanding of ailments. His research focuses on leveraging nanomaterials to address intractable diseases through the development of bioelectronic platforms.

Aaron is a staff research associate in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and a part-time electrical andcomputer engineering MS student. He has worked on quantum optimal control technology for two years, developingcutting-edge methods that have been successfully tested on hardware devices. He enjoys climbing, running, biking,hiking, and reading in his free time.

Francisco is a Senior Research Scientist working on the intersection of CV/ML/Graphics. Previously, Francisco worked as Research Engineering Lead at Epic Games where he developed the Neural Networks back-end module used to power several Unreal Engine functionalities that are widely adopted in the video game industry.

Prior to Epic Games, he was a Research Engineering Manager at Meta, where his team built computer-vision algorithms and state-of-the-art technology implementations applied to mobile augmented-reality and virtual reality. These applications are being used across Facebook platforms such as Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook where they power users’ AR usage.

Until December 2016, Francisco was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at FacioMetrics LLC where he built computer vision algorithms and their implementations in areas such as facial feature tracking, head pose estimation, expression analysis and face de-identification. The company was later acquired by Meta(Facebook). He has over 12 years of experience in the field of ML/CV with a focus on human faces and facial expression analysis and its various applications. Additionally, Francisco is 2015 graduate of the CMU Master of Science in Robotics program.

Kevin Dai is a Ph.D. candidate in the Biohybrid and Organic Robotics Group under Victoria Webster-Wood, studying biomimetic and soft robotics. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and has held multiple engineering internships at companies such as Northrop Grumman and SpaceX. 

Kevin’s continued research is targeted towards expanding material selection for additive manufacturing through the creation of soft and flexible resins. These materials could enable the rapid development of low-cost and high-performance elastomer components without requiring additional fabrication tooling.

David Guirguis received his MASc degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Toronto. He has wide research experience in engineering design and manufacturing, thermal engineering, and artificial intelligence, working at the University of Waterloo, as a Research Associate and the University of Toronto as a Visiting Researcher. He worked as a Mechanical Design Engineer with Trimble, Inc., Applanix in Ontario, Canada. He was named a leading innovator by the MIT Technology Review, and his research received graduate awards at international conferences including the Materials Science & Technology (MS&T).

David is working to make the 3D printing of metal alloys of more consistent quality and predictable outcome. He works on understanding the defect formation mechanisms during the additive manufacturing of metals by powder bed fusion. In addition, he has developed cost-effective smart monitoring, and prediction methods leveraging artificial intelligence to make the process development economically viable for consistent quality of metal printing towards a widespread of the technology. He is founding his startup company, Consistency, bringing the technology he developed during his doctoral studies to the market.

Renuka Hyderkhan holds a Ph.D. from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Hyderabad, India, where her doctoral research was centered on understanding how ferroelectric materials could be utilized in the field of solar energy conversion and devise strategies to optimize their efficiency and overall performance. Currently serving as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Carnegie Mellon University, Renuka works alongside Prof. Reeja Jayan in the renowned Far-from-Equilibrium Materials laboratory in Mechanical Engineering Department. Her research in the Jayan Lab is focused on the use of electromagnetic fields for development and processing of materials, particularly for structurally integrated energy and sensing applications.

Additionally, Renuka’s ongoing research endeavors, such as reducing the carbon footprint of battery manufacturing and implementing electromagnetic de-carbonization in ceramic processes, are driven by a strong commitment to sustainability. To achieve their goals, they recognize the importance of commercializing these technologies, enabling widespread adoption and impact. By focusing on commercialization, Renuka and her team aim to bridge the gap between academia and industry, translating their research outcomes into tangible products or processes that can be readily utilized in real-world settings. Through partnerships with industry stakeholders, investors, and relevant organizations, they strive to bring their innovations to market, ultimately making a positive and transformative impact on industry and society at large.

Aditi Kabra is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Logical Systems Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, advised by André Platzer. She earned a B.S. in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Physics from Cornell University. Her research interests lie in the verification and synthesis of safety-critical controllers for cyber-physical systems.

Train protection systems safeguard railroad operations by keeping motion within a safe envelope. These systems decide when to slow trains down to avoid collisions with other trains, stay inside movement authorities, and navigate slopes, curves, and tunnels safely. Aditi's research brings increased safety and reliability to train protection systems by creating control software that is mathematically proven safe, with the proof of safety checked by a computer. She is driving the commercialization of this technology.

Jay Maier is pursuing a MS degree in Robotics at CMU and holds a B.S in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.  Before coming to CMU, Jay was the lead hardware engineer for the team developing the DARPA RACER GFX fleet in his role at Carnegie Robotics.

Jay's research centers around leveraging the techniques that enable modern mobile robot autonomy (particularly in estimation and control) to revolutionize the recycling industry.  Jay works in the Biorobotics lab at CMU on modeling and optimization for E-Waste recycling and is leading the effort to commercialize some of the tech that the group has developed. 

Rui received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Hong Kong and was awarded Graduate with Distinction (2015, M.S) and Top-10 Outstanding Research Postgraduate Students (2020, Ph.D.). He holds a B.E in New Energy Science and Technology from Zhejiang University. He has a wide research background in nanomaterials, photovoltaics, electrochemistry, and thermal dynamics.

Rui has developed a robust, low-cost, and scalable fabrication method for nanostructured films and is currently exploring its applications in energy-related technologies. For thermal interface materials, a paper-like composite nanostructured film was strategically designed with an ultra-high thermal conductivity like metal, which is promising to efficiently dissipate heat and boost-up the performance of electronic devices. For battery, supercapacitor and photo/electro-catalysis related applications, the tunable nanostructure provides large surface area and extra current flow paths that are favorable for improving the energy conversion performances.

Vishal Jain holds a PhD in field of Neuroscience from Bharathiar University, India. Currently he is working as a Research Scientist with Prof. Maysam Chamanzar at Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, CMU. He leads the development of biological methods for validation of advanced neuro-technologies. He is studying functional changes in neural circuitry using electrophysiology and optical imaging methods in different brain regions employing ex-vivo and in-vivo models. His research interests are at the interface of neuroscience and neurotechnology to develop novel neuroelectric and neurophotonic technologies and translate them to basic neuroscience and BCI applications.

Dr. Jain with his team developed a novel approach for non-invasive brain stimulation with submillimeter scale resolution. Using this approach, they are developing a device, “PainAllay” which aim to help in mitigation of chronic pain following stroke, intense surgeries and similar conditions.

Megan DeBari earned her M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. She also holds B.S. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering and Zoology from the University of Florida. Her thesis research focused on personalizing patient treatment for soft tissue defects by better understanding how differences in patients affect tissue health, creating better adipose tissue disease models, and creating a personalized biomaterial degradation approach. Her continued research will focus on improving and commercializing acoustically sensitive silk biomaterials that can be triggered to degrade post-implantation, non-invasively.  

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Matthew Guttenberg is a Ph.D. candidate under Venkat Viswanathan studying complex system dynamics as they relate to electric vehicle systems and charging infrastructure. He has been involved with numerous projects including how platooning, convoying of trucks, affects the energy requirements of electric semi-trucks and how machine learning techniques can be applied to battery modeling. Matt got his undergraduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Energy Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and has had numerous internships in industry with companies such as SunPower.

His current research focuses on a complex system analysis algorithm called Incepts. This software couples high-fidelity battery and vehicle dynamics, informed by the locality of the simulation including weather, traffic flow, etc., with agent based simulations to accurately simulate fleets of electric vehicles. This software can be used for accurate trip-planning, fleet analysis and charger infrastructure optimization for various types of electric vehicles.

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Yongsung Kim is a postdoctoral fellow in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. He received a PhD in Technology and Social Behavior from Northwestern University, a M.S in Computer Science from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), and a B.E in Computer Science from Tsinghua University. 

The goal of his research is to develop systems that transform how people and their communities simultaneously advance their individual and collective goals. His recent work focuses on developing platforms to lower the costs for individuals in making sense of the web for complex research tasks, such as deciding on a new digital camera or learning about a new scientific domain, while simultaneously capturing their work processes to help the community of future users with similar interests.

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Mathew is pursuing an MBA and an M.S. in Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to CMU, he completed his Bachelor's in Economics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. 

Cofounder of Equa Health, Mathew's startup was born in CMU's Health and Human Performance Lab, which conducts research on stress management strategies and interventions for understanding stress resilience processes. Equa Health is creating an interactive mindfulness training technology focused on building resilience, wellness and performance mindset in the workforce.

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Alireza received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, and received a M.S. degree in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. He is the recipient of the 2018-2019 CMU BrainHub fellowship. His main research interest is on designing new algorithms for use in the early diagnosis and monitoring of neurological disease. 

His research focuses on developing diagnostic methods for Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs), stroke, and migraine, by synthesizing ideas from AI, machine-learning, and signal processing. Alireza has recently developed SilenceMap, an open-source algorithm based on scalp electroencephalography (EEG). Using a novel hemispheric baseline approach and a convex spectral clustering framework, SilenceMap permits rapid detection and localization of regions of silence in the brain, e.g., ischemic, necrotic, or lesional tissue in stroke, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), or even tumors in the brain, using only 3 min of EEG data.

Brian Holt is a research associate in the lab of Prof. Stefanie Sydlik. He completed his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and his BSE in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

In the lab of Prof. Sydlik, Brian is part of a team that aims to overcome heavy metal toxicity. To do so, they created a new class of chelators, termed "BioBinders". BioBinders can bind toxic metal ions while being biocompatible. Brian is working on developing this technology into a commercializable product that can benefit health.

Gregory Houchins received his B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from James Madison University and his M.S. in Physics from Carnegie Mellon. He is currently a Physics Ph.D. candidate whose research covers a range of topics in electrochemistry and energy storage, from machine-learning-enabled computational optimizations of Li-ion battery cathodes, to mechanistic understandings of degradation pathways.

His continued research will focus on developing electrochemically engineered carbon zero cement inspired by battery science, which would drastically reduce the embodied carbon of concrete and the carbon output of the built environment.

Luke Lyle earned his M.S degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Materials Science and Engineering and also holds B.S and B.A degrees in Physics and Mathematics from the University at Buffalo.

The focus of his doctoral research is gallium oxide, a wide bandgap semiconducting material for high power electronic applications. In these applications, gallium oxide is poised to have vastly higher efficiencies than competing materials. This material is critical for developing renewable energy technology by increasing the efficiency of power electronics in electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar cells, and batteries. He is working on commercializing this technology with the development of an industrially scalable, novel technique to grow gallium oxide aiming to leverage this material for use in renewable energy systems.

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Jooli Han is a 4^th year Ph.D. student in Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Before CMU, she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees both in Biomedical Engineering from State University of New York. After completing the Master’s program, she worked at a start-up medical device company for 1 year.

Her research focuses on the development of soft robotic muscle-powered cardiac assist devices for heart failure patients. A soft robotic cardiac compression cup that is 3D printed using flexible polymer and powered by the natural contraction of human skeletal muscle improves cardiac function without requiring a percutaneous driveline or touching the blood stream. This will eliminate the risks of infection and pump thrombosis, and therefore, significantly reduce the rate of readmissions caused by secondary complications.

Bruce holds a Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon. Through his academic and professional career, Dr. Wu develops expertise on novel materials synthesis, process development and supply chain management. He is currently working with Professor Whitacre’s group on developing reuse and recycle technologies for lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion battery recycling is a complicated challenge that requires system level solution. Bruce is working with his team to come up with solutions that can optimally utilize the residual value of used lithium-ion battery cells through secondary use as energy storage solutions and direct recycling to exact high value materials. Bruce is also pursuing an MBA degree in Tepper School of Business.