Dr.
Xiaobo Tan Lab director
E-mail: xbtan@egr.msu.edu
Phone: (517)432-5671
Fax: (517)353-1980
Mart
Anton
Dr.
Anton received his PhD from Tartu University, Estonia in 2008. Starting August
2008, he has been a postdoc in SML. His research is focused on mathematical
theory for efficient swimming of biomimetic robotic fish. Dr. Anton also visited
SML during October-November 2007 when he was a PhD student working on the modeling of ionic polymer-metal composite actuators.
Freddie Alequin
Ph.D. student
Freddie received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Purto Rico, Mayaguez, in December 2007. He was an engineering at Texas Instruments before joining SML as a Ph.D. student in August 2008. His current research interest is in the development of highly maneuverable and efficient robotic fish.
Ph.D. student and lab manager
Zheng received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Automatic Control from Zhejiang University in 1999 and 2002, respectively. His research interests include modeling, sensing and control of electroactive polymers, electroactive polymer-based microrobots, control of dynamical systems with hysteresis, and micromanipulation.
Ph.D. student and lab co-manager
Yang received his Bachelor's degree in Automation from University of Science and Technology of China in 2003, and his M.S. degree in Manufacturing System and Technology (Singapore - MIT Alliance Program) from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 2005. His current research is focused on conjugated polymer actuators, and micro and nanomanipulation.
Dan Jakeway
Ph.D. student
Dan received his B. S. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University in May 2008. Starting Fall'08, he has been pursuing his PhD under joint supervision of Drs. Tan and Khalil. He works on nonlinear control of superconducting particle accelerator cavities.
Dawn
Hedgepeth
Ph.D. student
Dawn received her B.S. from Morgan State University in December 2006. She was a systems engineer at Lockheed Martin before she joined Michigan State University as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2007. Her research is focused on modeling and design of electroactive polymer-based biomimetic robots.
Stephan
Shatara
M.S. student
Stephan received his
B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Michigan State in Spring 2006. He is
currently pursuing his Master's degree. His research topic is on the development
of localization methods for biomimetic robots and collaborative control of
multiple robots.
Alex Esbrook
Alex is pursuing his B.S. in Electrical Engineering (expected in December 2008) at MSU. He is a research intern in Summer'08. Alex works on collaborative control of electroactive polymer-enabled robots using tools from statistical physics.
Chris Gliniecki
Chris is pursing his B. S. in Electrical Engineering (expected in December 2008) at MSU. He is a research intern in Summer'08. His research project deals with designing the body of robotic fish and equipping the fish with a wireless camera.
John Thon
Mr. Thon is a technology teacher at Holt Junior High School. He has been a K-12 Outreach Coordinator for MSU College of Engineering since 2006. Starting Summer'08, he has been an NSF-sponsored RET (Research Experience for Teachers) teacher in SML. In close collaboration with other SML researchers, he performs research on body and packaging solutions for biomimetic robotic fish and develops curriculum material for students at school based on the robotic fish project.
Qingsong Hu
Qingsong is a PhD student from Tongji University, Shanghai. He is a visiting scholar at Michigan State University from October 2007 to October 2008. He spends part of his time in SML, working on the modeling of turning behaviors for electroactive polymer-based robotic fish.
A NOTE TO SML ALUMNI: please keep us updated on your achievements and contact information by sending emails to xbtan@msu.edu. We would like to hear how you are doing.
Alumni - Graduate Students
Jeff Ahrens
Jeff received his Ph.D. degree in December 2006. Jeff's dissertation Design and Performance Tradeoffs of High-Gain Observers with Application to Smart Material Actuated Systems, was jointly supervised by Prof. Hassan K. Khalil (principal advisor) and Prof. Tan. Jeff is currently with the Sullivan Park Research Center of Corning Incorporated.
Nathan Usher
Nathan received his M. S. degree in August 2007. Nathan's Master's thesis Digital Low-Level Radio Frequency Control and Microphonics Mitigation of Superconducting Cavities focused on the development of embedded control algorithms and their hardware/software implementations in a DSP/FPGA combo board. Nathan is currently an RF engineer at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at MSU.
Alumni - Undergraduate Students
Omar
Bennani
Omar received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering in December 2007. He was an undergraduate research assistant of SML from January 2006 to December 2007. Omar investigated embedded control of smart material actuators. He is currently employed by Caterpillar.
Andrew Temme
Andrew started to work as an undergraduate research assistant in SML in Fall 2006 (his freshman year). He left the lab in pursuing his interest in electromagnetics in May 2008. During his tenure with SML, Andrew was involved in the study of electroactive polymer sensors and sensors for robotic fish.
Ki-Yong Kwon
Ki-Yong received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from MSU in December 2007 and has been pursuing graduate studies at MSU since then. He started research in SML in Fall 2006, and was an undergraduate research assistant in 2007. He worked on the development of electroactive polymer-based tetrahedral walker as well as integrated sensing methods for ionic polymer metal composites.
Nate Gingery
Nate received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from MSU in December 2007. He was a summer research intern at SML during Summer 2007. Nate worked on the navigation and localization issues of electroactive polymer-actuated robotic fish. Nate is currently an officer in Navy.
Jason
Malinak
Jason received his B.S. (in honors) in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University in December 2005. He conducted research on integrated sensing and actuation for electroactive polymers in SML from Summer 2005 through March 2006, when he joined Argon ST as an engineer. Jason joined University of Pittsburg as a graduate student in Fall 2007. He is currently a vehicle research engineer at Honda R & D.
Christopher Ziel
Chris received his B. S. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University in December 2005. He was an SML member from Summer 2005 through March 2006. He designed and developed an apparatus for investigation of sensing behaviors of electroactive polymers. After graduation, Chris first joined BAE Systems as a product test engineer, and then joined USSI as an electrical design engineer.
Bryan
Thomas
Bryan was an undergraduate researcher in SML during Fall 2006 and Spring 2007. He worked closely with Stephan on the development of onboard localization, navigation, and control methods for electroactive polymer-actuated robotic fish.
Daniel Laboy
Dan was pursuing a major in Computer Engineering with a minor in International Relations. He was a Professorial Assistant to Dr. Tan and then as an undergraduate research assistant until December 2006. He was involved in the development of artificial muscle-based biomimetic robotic fish. Other than his academic interests, he enjoys watching and playing soccer.
Roy Dong
Roy was a Professorial Assistant of Dr. Tan during Fall 2006 and Spring 2007 (his freshman year). Roy was involved in the development of an educational kit based on electroactive polymer-actuated robotic fish.
Alumni - Visiting Scholars
Andres Hunt
Andres was an exchange student from Tartu University, Estonia. From February to July 2008, he conducted research on self-sensing artificial muscles in SML, as part of his Master's thesis.
Stephan
Henneberger
Stephan was an exchange student from University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. From August 2007 to February 2008, he pursued his Study Thesis on onboard processing algorithms for autonomous robotic fish in SML.
Ernest Mbemmo
Ernest was an exchange student from University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. From February through September 2007, Ernest performed his Master's thesis research in SML. His thesis was entitled Design and Modeling of Biomimetic Robotic Fish Propelled by an IPMC. Ernest is current an application engineer at INVENSYS, Germany.
Alex Will
Alex was an exchange student from Industrial Engineering and Management at University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. From May through October 2006, he worked in SML on a research project dealing with characterization and modeling of the sensing behavior of an Electro-active Polymer (IPMC). After finishing his study thesis, entitled Dynamic Sensing Model for Ionic Polymer Metal Composites, he returned to Kaiserslautern and finished his studies with the German Diploma Degree. Besides studying, Alex enjoys outdoor sports, traveling and meeting people.
