Faculty

Prof. Xiaobo Tan

Lab Director

E-mail: xbtan@egr.msu.edu

Phone: (517)432-5671

Fax: (517)353-1980

 

 

 

 

 

 


Graduate Students

 

Eric Gaskell

Ph.D. student

Eric graduated from University of Oklahoma with a BS in both electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. He joined the SML in Fall 2019. His research interest is in underwater robotics.

 

 

Pearce Reickert

Ph.D. student

Pearce graduated from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a BSE in Computer Engineering in 2018. He joined the SML in Fall 2018. He is currently working on underwater robotic systems.

 

 

 

 

Xinda Qi

Ph.D. student

Xinda received his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2016  and master's degree in Mechatronics Engineering in 2018, both from Harbin Institute of Technology, China. He joined SML to pursue his PhD degree in Fall 2018. His research topic is on robotic systems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demetris Coleman

Ph.D. student

Demetris received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University in 2017. He was a summer research intern in SML in 2016. He returned to MSU and SML for pursuing his PhD student in Fall 2017. His current research is focused on underwater robotics.

 

 

 

 

 

Hongyang Shi

Ph.D. student

Hongyang received his B.S. in Mechanical Design, Manufacturing and Automation from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, China, in 2012, and his M.S. in Mechatronic Engineering from HUST in 2015. He was a Mechanical Engineer with INMOTION Technologies, Shenzhen, China, before joining SML as a PhD student in Fall 2016.His current research is focused on soft robotics.

 

 

 

 

Mohammed Al-Rubaiai 

Ph.D. student

Mohammed received his B.S. degree in mechatronics engineering from University of Baghdad, Iraq, in 2009. He pursued his M.S. degree in electrical engineering at MSU from 2013 to 2015. His M.S. thesis was titled Design and Development of an LED-based Optical Communication System. After working in Iraq for one year, Mohammed returned to SML for his PhD studies in Fall 2016. His current research is focused on soft robotics.

 

 

 

Maria CastanoMaria Castano

Ph.D. student

Maria received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Florida International University in May 2014, and started her PhD studies at MSU in August 2014.  She received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2016. Her current research is focused on control of robotic fish.

 

 

 

 

 

Thassyo PintoThassyo Pinto

Ph.D. student

Thassyo received his B.S. in Mechatronics Engineering from Universidade Salvador Unifacs, Brazil, in June 2014, and started his PhD studies at MSU in August 2014.  His research is focused on soft robotics and evolutionary robotics.

 

 

 

 

 

PratapPratap Bhanu Solanki

Ph.D. student

Pratap received his B. Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 2013, and started his PhD studies at MSU in August 2014. His research is focused on development and control of LED-based underwater communication systems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason GreenbergJason Greenberg

Ph.D. student and lab manager

Jason received his B.S. in Computer Engineering from SUNY New Paltz in December 2012, and started his PhD studies at MSU in August 2013.  His research is focused on simultaneous localization and communication using LED light.

 

 

 

 

OsamaOsama En-Nasr

Ph.D. student

Osama started working in SML as a Summer Research Intern in May 2011, and continued as an undergrad research assistant until he completed his B.S. degree in electrical engineering at MSU in May 2013. He was involved in several projects related to robotic fish. He has been a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at MSU since August 2013. His research is focused on adaptive sampling with gliding robotic fish.

 

 

Chandler Panetta

Master's student

Chandler received his BS degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics at MSU in Spring 2019. He started working at the SML in January of 2018 on the towable side-scan sonar unit and autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) when he was an undergrad. He is currently pursuing his MS degree with a thesis topic on fish tracking using ASVs. 

 

 


Undergraduate Students

Jacob Blatt

Jake is an undergrad in ECE and currently a Professorial Assistant in the SML. He works on several robotics-related projects.

 

Claudia Chen

Claudia is an undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering. She is currently a Professorial Assistant of Dr. Tan and works on soft sensors.

 

Austin Coha

Austin is an undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering and has been with the SML since May 2019. He works on underwater robotics.

 

Thomas Bos

Thomas is an undergrad student in Computer Science. He is currently a Professorial Assistant of Dr. Tan and works on underwater robotics.

 

Brendan Luecker

Brendan is an undergrad student in Electrical & Computer Engineering. He was a Professorial Assistant of Dr. Tan and now an undergrad research assistant in SML. He is involved in underwater robotics research.

  

 

 

 

 

 


RET Teachers

 

John Thon

Mr. Thon is a technology and art teacher at Holt Junior High School. He was a K-12 Outreach Coordinator for MSU College of Engineering in 2006. He was an NSF-sponsored RET (Research Experience for Teachers) teacher in SML and a key research personnel of the lab. In close collaboration with other SML researchers, he performs research on mechanical design, machining, and packaging for underwater robots, and develops curriculum material for students at school based on the robotic fish project.

 

 


Pre-college Students


 

 


Visiting Scholars

Prof. Miaolei Zhou

Dr. Zhou is a Professor from Jilin University, China. His work in SML (2018 - 2020) is focused on the control of smart material systems.

 

 


SML Alumni 

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 - Postdoctoral Researchers

 

Mart Anton

Dr. Anton received his Ph.D. from Tartu University, Estonia in 2008. He was a postdoc in SML from August 2008 to June 2009. His research was focused on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling 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. Dr. Anton is currently with the Center of Biorobotics at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia.

 

 

Alumni - PhD Students

 

 

 

Montassar Sharif

Montassar received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in mechatronics engineering from University of Baghdad, Iraq, in 2006 and 2009, respectively.  He started his PhD studies in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at MSU in August 2013 and completed his PhD research in June 2019. His dissertation was titled Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC): Modeling and Bio-inspired Sensing Applications. He is now a faculty member in Technical College-Kirkuk, Northern Technical University, in Iraq.

 

 

 

SanazSanaz Behbahani

Sanaz received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2008. She joined SML in Summer 2011 and completed her PhD research in December 2016. Her dissertation was titled The Role of Flexibility in Robotic Fish. She joined ABB as an Innovation R&D Engineer with their Robotics and Motion team in March 2017.  

 

 

 

 

 

Hong Lei 

Dr. Lei received his Bachelor's degree in Technology and Apparatus for Measurement and Control and Master's degree in Testing and Measurement Technology and Instrument in 2006, 2009, respectively, from Beihang University, Beijing, China. He received his PhD from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan State University in May 2015. His dissertation was titled Modeling and Fabrication of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC) Sensors.  Dr. Lei continued as a postdoc in SML and investigated the modeling, design, and fabrication of IPMC-enabled artificial lateral lines and vestibular systems for underwater robots. Dr. Lei joined Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in March 2016 and then joined the faculty at Portland State University in July 2018.

 

 

Jun Zhang

Jun received his B.S. in Automation from University of Science and Technology of China in 2011. He joined SML in Fall 2011 and completed his PhD study in December 2015. His dissertation was titled Modeling, Identification, and Control of Hysteretic Systems with Application to Vanadium Dioxide Microactuators. Jun Joined UC San Diego as a postdoc upon graduation and became a faculty member at University of Nevada, Reno, in Fall 2018.

 

 

 

Jianxun Wang 

Jianxun received his Bachelor's degree in Automation Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology in 2009. He joined SML as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2009. Jianxun completed his PhD degree in August 2014. His dissertation was titled Robotic Fish: Development, Modeling, and Application to Mobile Sensing. Jianxun joined Apple Inc. upon graduation.

 

 

 

Feitian Zhang 

Feitian received his Bachelor's degree in Automation Engineering and Master's degree in Control Science and Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology in 2007 and 2009, respectively. He joined SML as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2009 and served as the lab manager. He completed his PhD study in August 2014. His dissertation was titled Modeling, Design, and Control of Gliding Robotic Fish. Feitian joined University of Maryland as a postdoc upon graduation, and is currently a faculty member at George Mason University.

 

 

Mohamed Edardar

Mohamed received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Al-Fateh University, Libya, in 1991, and his M.S. from UPM, Malaysia, in 1999. He was a field engineer for Schlumberger from 1991 to 1996, and was with the High Institute of Electronic Professions from 1999 to 2004. He joined Al-Fateh University as an academic staff in 2005, and then joined MSU as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2008. He was jointly advised by Dr. Hassan Khalil (principal advisor) and Dr. Tan, and received his PhD degree in electrical engineering from MSU in August 2013. His dissertation was titled  Robust Control of Systems with Piecewise Linear Hysteresis.  

 

 

Alex Esbrook

Alex received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from MSU in December 2008. He was a research intern with SML in summer'08 and an undergraduate research assistant in Fall 2008. He started his PhD program in Spring 2009, and was jointly advised by Dr. Tan (principal advisor) and Dr. Hassan Khalil. He completed his PhD dissertation in December 2012, which was titled Control of Systems with Hysteresis Using Servocompensators. He is currently with Williams International.

 

 

 

Ahmad Taha AbdulsaddaAhmad Taha Abdulsadda

Ahmad received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Tikrit, Iraq, and his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Baghdad, Iraq, in 1998 and 2000, respectively. He was a lecturer at University of Baghdad and then at the Technical College in Najaf from 2000 to 2008. He joined SML in Spring 2010, and received his PhD degree in electrical engineering from Michigan State University in August 2012. His dissertation was titled Artificial Lateral Line Systems for Feedback Control of Underwater Robots. He is currently a faculty member at Al Najaf Technical College, Iraq.

 

 

Zheng Chen 

Zheng received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in automatic control from Zhejiang University in 1999 and 2002, respectively. He received his PhD degree in electrical engineering from Michigan State in August 2009. His Ph.D. dissertation was titled Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite Artificial Muscles and Sensors: A Control Systems Perspective. Zheng was the recipient of a Summer Dissertation Fellowship in 2005 and a Dissertation Completion Fellowship in 2009, both from MSU Graduate School. He also received an Honorable Mention for the Fitch Beach Outstanding Graduate Research Award from MSU College of Engineering in 2008. He is currently a faculty member at University of Houston.

 

    

Yang Fang

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. He received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Michigan State in August 2009. His Ph.D. dissertation was titled Conjugated Polymer Actuators and Sensors: Modeling, Control, and Applications. Yang received the 2008 ASME/DSCD  Best Mechatronics Paper Award for the paper "Design and modeling of a petal-shape, conjugated polymer-actuated micropump", presented at the 2008 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference. Yang is currently with Advanced Bionics.

 

Jeff Ahrens 

Jeff received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Michigan State 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.

 

 

Alumni - MS  Students

 

Hussein Hasan 

 Hussein received his B.S. degree in mechatronics from University of Baghdad, Iraq, in 2008. He pursued his M.S. degree in mechanical engineering at MSU from 2013 to 2015. His thesis was titled Design, Development, and Modeling of a Wirelessly Charged Robotic Fish. He joined the faculty of University of Baghdad, Iraq, upon graduation.

 

 

 

 

Ali Abul 

 Ali received his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Ege University, Turkey, in 2011. He pursued his M.S. degree in mechanical engineering at MSU from 2013 to 2015. His thesis was titled Microbial Fuel Cells: Design, Control-oriented Modeling, and Experimental Results. He joined DDI Engineering, Inc., upon graduation.

 

 

 

 

 

Freddie Alequin

Freddie received his M.S. in electrical engineering from Michigan State University in August 2011. He was a graduate research assistant in SML, where he was involved in the development and modeling of robotic fish. He is currently with Dart Containers.

 

 

 

 

Dawn Hedgepeth

Dawn received her M.S. in electrical engineering from Michigan State University in August 2010. She worked on the modeling and design of biomimetic robotic fish when she was a research assistant in SML. She joined Lockheed Martin upon graduation.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Stephan Shatara

Stephan received his B.S. and M.S., both  in electrical engineering, from MSU in May 2006 and December 2008, respectively. His M.S. thesis was titled Development of Small Biomimetic Robotic Fish with Onboard Fine-Grained Localization. Stephan is currently with Motorola.

 

 

 

 

Alumni - Undergraduate Students

 

 

Samuel Melrose

Sam was an undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering at MSU. He worked in SML from 2018 - 2019 on a soft robotic glove.

 

Ryan Radawiec

Ryan was an undergrad student in ECE at MSU. He worked in SML from 2018 - 2019 on underwater robotics.

 

Daniel Quinn

Daniel worked in SML from April - May 2019 on underwater robotics.

 

Shaswat Joshi

Shaswat worked in SML from April - July 2019 on underwater robotics (in particular, imaging with sidescan sonar).

 

Samuel Zayko

Sam worked in the summer of 2019 on underwater robotics.

 

 

Paul Schulman

 

Paul was an undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering at MSU. He worked in SML from 2017 - 2019 on underwater robotics.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Robin Onsay

Robin was an undergrad student in Computer Engineering. He was an undergrad research assistant in SML in 2017 - 2018, and he worked on underwater imaging with a sidescan sonar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Billette

Robert worked in the SML on projects related to underwater robotics, including the development and control of robotic boats, from January 2018 to May 2019.

 

 

 

 

 Joeshua D, Gonzalez

Joeshua was an undergrad student in Electrical Engineering at University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez campus. He was a summer research intern in SML and collaborated on robotic sailboat research in Summer 2018.

 

 

 

 


Ryan Johnson

Ryan was an undergrad student in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE). He started as a Professorial Assistant of Dr. Tan in Fall 2014 and was involved in several projects  including wireless charging for robotic fish and embedded programming for gliding robotic fish. Ryan joined the CSE graduate program after finishing his BS in May 2018.


 

 

 

 

Lucas Wolfe

Lucas was an undergrad student in Electrical & Computer Engineering at MSU. He was a summer research intern in SML and worked on 3D printing of shape memory polymers in Summer 2016. He then worked on the development of a wave energy-harvesting system and a solar charging circuit until he graduated in December 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

Camille Emig

Camille was an undergrad student in Computer Science and Engineering. She was a Professorial Assistant of Dr. Tan from Fall 2016 to Spring 2018. Her research in SML involved the development of graphical user interface for gliding robotic fish. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

Andres Aleman

Andres was a participant of the SROP (Summer Research Opportunities Program) in Summer 2017. He was an undergrad student from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. He was involved in the circuit design for gliding robotic fish.

 

Ruoxuan Jiang

Ruoxuan was a graduate from New York University. She conducted research in SML during Summer 2017 as part of her Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. Her work explored the potential use of ROS (Robot Operating System) for gliding robotic fish.

 

Thamer Youself Alsghan

Thamer was an undergrad student at MSU and he was involved in SML research in Summer 2017. He explored the use of computer vision to track objects.

 

 

Edwin Ortega

Edwin was a participant of the SROP (Summer Research Opportunities Program) in Summer 2017. He was an undergrad student from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. He explored the use of cellular data module for robot communication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunho Choi
Sunho was an undergrad student in Electrical & Computer Engineering at MSU. He was involved in SML research from May 2016 to May 2017. He was responsible for developing sample collection modules for underwater robots.






Hanish Mehta

Hanish was an undergrad student in Applied Engineering Sciences at MSU. He worked in SML from May 2016 to August 2017. In particular, he built remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) and explored several other underwater robotics projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hanchen Xie

Hanchen was an undergrad student in Electrical & Computer Engineering. He was an undergrad research assistant in SML from January 2016 to May 2017. His work involved the design and programming of underwater robotic systems.

 

 

 

 

James (Jamie) P. Staley

Jamie was an undergrad research assistant in SML in Spring 2016. He worked on the navigation of a quadrotor.

 

 

Amin S. Almozel

Amin was a summer research intern with SML in Summer 2016. He was from University of Rochester and he worked on LED communication systems in 3D space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demetris Coleman

Demetris was an MSU SROP (Summer Research Opportunities Program) participant in Summer 2016. He was an undergrad from Auburn University. His work in SML involved soft actuators for biomedical applications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yue Chen

Yue was an undergrad research assistant in SML from Summer 2016 through Fall 2016. He was involved in the research on 3D printing of shape memory polymers.

 

 

 

 

 

Cody Thon

Cody started working in SML when he was a student at Junior High School. He was then an undergrad research assistant in SML since Fall 2011. He was involved extensively in the design and development of robotic fish and gliding robotic fish before he joined General Motors in May 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

Tingyuan ZhangTingyuan Zhang

Tingyuan was an undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering and a research assistant in SML from Summer 2014 to Spring 2016. He was involved in the design and prototyping of various mechanical components for underwater robots. He joined University of Southern California as an MS student in Fall 2016.

 

 

 

Anthonios DoliotisAnthonios Doliotis

Anthonios was an undergrad student from Columbia University. He was a summer research intern in SML in 2015, where he investigated the use of micro-modems for underwater communication and navigation.

 

 

 

 

 

Yujie HaoYujie Hao

 Yujie was an undergrad summer research intern and then a research assistant in 2014. She worked on the assembly, programming, and extension of an OpenROV platform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patrick MunozPatrick Munoz

Patrick was an undergrad summer research intern from Florida International University in 2014. He worked on embedded programming of underwater robots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott O'ConnorScott O'Connor

Scott was an undergrad research intern in SML during Summer 2013. He has continued as an undergrad research assistant since. His research was focused on the design and implementation of a solar energy-harvesting system for underwater robots. Scott later joined the PhD program at MSU in the electromagnetics group.

 

 

 

 

 

Mark VelezMark Velez

Mark conducted undergrad research in SML from July through December 2012. He was involved in the CAD design of robotic fish body.

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria KaneVictoria Kane

Victoria conducted research in SML during Summer 2013, after she finished her sophomore year at Clemson University. Her research was focused on the design of a flexible passive joint for robotic fish pectoral fins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BinBin Tian

Bin started research in SML in May 2011. His work involved the development of haptic systems for interacting with robotic fish and the exploration of LED-based underwater communication systems. He received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from MSU in May 2013. He is currently pursuing his graduate degree at University of Michigan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Zain Bahtti

Zain was an undergrad in biomedical engineering from NCA&T. He was a research intern in SML during Summer 2012. His research topic involved 3D printer-based rapid prototyping of robotic fish.

 

 

 

 

Joey Graves 

Joey was an undergrad in applied math from Duke University. He was a research intern in SML during Summer 2012. His research topic involved  limit cycles in dynamic hysteretic systems.    

 

 

 

 

Juan Castro 

Juan was an undergrad in computer science from University of Puerto Rico. He was a research intern in SML during Summer 2012. His research topic involved software design for graphical user interface of robotic fish systems.

 

 

 

 

Kasra Dabiran 

Kasra was a research intern in SML for Summer 2012. His research was focused on mechanical design of robotic fish. In particular, he contributed to the design of an active tail for gliding robotic fish. He received his B.S. in electrical engineering from MSU in December 2012.

                                                 

 

 

 

ChaiYongChaiYong Lim

ChaiYong started working in SML as a Summer Research Intern in May 2011, and his work was focused on ionic polymer-metal composite sensors, including, in particular, their humidity-dependent sensing behaviors. He received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from MSU in May 2012. He is currently pursuing his PhD degree in electrical engineering at Arizona State University.

 

 

 

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. Roy returned to SML as an undergrad research assistant in January 2010 and investigated the modeling and compensation of temperature-dependent actuation behavior of ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs). He joined the graduate school at UC Berkeley in Fall 2011.

 

 

 

Stephen England Stephen England

Stephen worked in SML as an undergrad research assistant from November 2010 to May 2011. His work was focused on embedded systems for autonomous robotic fish.

 

 

 

 

 

FelixFelix Adisaputra

Felix was an undergraduate research assistant in SML during Summer'10. He was responsible for creating a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for interacting with robotic fish. Felix joined Highlight Industries in Grand Rapids, MI, after graduation. He is currently pursuing an MBA degree at University of South Dakota.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Ganley

Tom was a summer research intern in SML during Summer'09 and then an undergrad research assistant until April 2010. He studied the behavior of ionic polymer-metal composite sensors and their potential applications in automotive systems. He joined GE while pursuing an M.S. degree after graduation in December 2010.

 

 

 

 

Matt Guibord

Matt received his B. S. in electrical engineering at MSU in 2010. He was a summer research intern in SML during Summer'09. He investigated the modeling and control of a nanopositioning stage. Matt is currently with Texas Instruments.

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Carpenter

Mike received his B.S. in computer engineering in December 2009. He was a summer research intern in SML during Summer'09. He worked on the design of robotic fish and the modeling of their turning behaviors. Mike is currently with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

 

 

 

 

Chris Gliniecki

Chris received his B. S. in Electrical Engineering from MSU in December 2008. He worked in SML as a research intern in Summer'08. His research project dealt with designing the body of robotic fish and equipping the fish with a wireless camera.

 

 

 

 

Omar Bennani

Omar received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from MSU 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. Andrew received the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to continue with his graduate study at MSU in 2010.

 

 

   

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. He is currently a PhD student at MSU.

 

 

 

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 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.

 

 

 

Alumni - K-12 Teachers

 

 

Jeffry Parks

 

Jeff was a teacher at Waverly High School in Lansing, Michigan. He was part of the RET program in Summer 2019 and he worked on 3D-printed strain sensors.

 

 

Megan Stadt

Megan earned a BS in Mathematics with a minor in Physics from MSU in 2007 and MA in Teaching and Curriculum also from MSU in 2011. She taught science at Okemos High School and was a part of the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program in 2018, when she worked in SML and investigated capacitive sensors.

 

 

 

Lisa VanOrder

Lisa was a science teacher from Perry Middle School, Perry, MI. She participated in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program in 2017, and worked in SML on solar charging systems for gliding robotic fish.

 

 

 

 

Randall Heck

Randy was a teacher from J. W. Sexton High School, Lansing, MI. He participated in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program in 2016, and worked in SML on fabrication of soft pneumatic actuators.

 

 

 

 

 

Dean Buggia

Dean was a teacher from Okemos High School, Okemos, MI. He participated in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program in 2015, and worked in SML on solar cell systems for gliding robotic fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sonya RossSonya Ross

Sonya was a teacher from Cass Tech High School, Detroit. She participated in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program in 2014 and 2015, and worked in SML on simulation and experiments on robotic fish with pectoral fins, as well as design and prototyping of electro-rheological fluids-based flexible fin with tunable stiffness.

 

 

 

Alumni - Pre-College Students

 

Eric Li

Eric was a graduate from Okemos High School and he worked in the summer of 2019 on a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). He joined UC Berkeley as an undergrad in Fall 2019.

 

 

 

Jaron Hsu

Jaron was a senior at Crestwood High School in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. He was a participant of the MSU High School Honors Science/Engineering/Mathematics Program in Summer 2018, and he was focused on developing mathematical models for soft robotic actuators. 

 

 

 

Ari Bozann

Ari was a high school freshman and explored engineering research in SML from July to December 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Kim

Andrew was a participant of the High School Honors Science/Engineering/Mathematics Program in Summer 2017. He worked in SML on the design and characterization of 3D-printed strain gauges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jack Sparrow

Jack was a student from East Lansing High School, MI. He worked in SML during Summer 2017. He was involved in several underwater robotics projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lexie RobertsLexie Roberts

Lexie began researching with SML in Spring 2015 during her sophomore year of high school. She was involved in several projects, including developing the GUI for the robotic fish exhibit in the MSU Museum, algorithms for tracking control of drones, and the GUI for gliding robotic fish. She joined University of Michigan for college in August 2017.

                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

 

Alumni - Visiting Students

 

 

Rui Xu

Rui was an exchange PhD student from Jiling University and he worked on the control of systems with hysteresis during his visit to SML from 2018-2019.

 

Siyang Yang

Siyang received his B.S. in Mechanical and Electronic Engineering from Hefei University of Technology (HFUT), Hefei, Anhui, China, in 2014, following which he began his PhD studies at HFUT. He joined SML as a visiting PhD student in November 2017 and worked on model reduction for soft robotic fish.

 

 

 

Fang LeiLei Fang

Lei was a visiting PhD student from Peking University during 2014-2015. His research topic was focused on systems with hysteresis, with application to control valves with stiction.

 

 

Yannick Kengne Fotsing

Yannick  was an exchange student from University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. From January through July 2011, Yannick worked on his Master's thesis in SML. His research was focused on nonlinear modeling and control of ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuators. Yannick joined Siemens right after the completion of his thesis.

 

 

 

 

Qingsong Hu

Qingsong was a PhD student from Tongji University, Shanghai. He was a visiting scholar at Michigan State University from October 2007 to October 2008. He spent part of his time in SML, working on the modeling of turning behaviors for electroactive polymer-based robotic fish. Dr. Hu is currently a faculty member at Shanghai Ocean University, China.

 

 

 

 

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 research in SML on onboard processing algorithms for autonomous robotic fish. His study thesis was entitled A Sliding Discrete Fourier Transform (SDFT)-based Localization for Small Fish Robots.

 

 

 

 

 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.

 

 

 

Alumni - Visiting Scholars

 

Fengyu Xu

Prof. Fengyu Xu was a visiting scholar from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China, during May 2016 - May 2017. His research topic was soft climbing mechanisms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yan ShenProf. Yan Shen 

Dr. Shen was a faculty member at Chengdu University of Information Technology, China. She visited SML for one year during 2012-2013. Her research was focused on coordination of robotic fish sensor networks subject to energy constraints.

 

 

 

 

Prof. Zhibin Li

Dr. Li was a faculty member from Shenzhen Polytechnic University, China. He visited SML for six months during 2012-2013. He investigated the modeling and control of nanotube-based linear actuators.

 

 Prof. Songlin Chen 

Dr. Chen was a faculty member from Harbin Institute of Technology, China. He visited SML for one year during 2012-2013. He investigated the design of nonlinear controllers for tail-actuated robotic fish.