Robotics Engineering

Faculty

Jing Xiao

Jing Xiao

Director, Robotics Engineering Program
Computer Science
Office: 85 Prescott Street, Suite 201
Phone: 508-831-6363
My research spans robotics, haptics, multi-modal perception, and artificial intelligence, at the intersection of computer science and engineering. There are two highly related themes in my robotics research: one is the focus on “contact sport”, i.e., the contact and interaction between a robot or a part/tool it holds and the environment, and the other is real-time adaptiveness of robots to uncertainty and uncertain changes in an environment based on perception. ... View Profile
Craig B. Putnam

Craig B. Putnam

Senior Instructor
Associate Director, Robotics Engineering
Computer Science
Office: 85 Prescott 208
Phone: +1-508-831-6658
After many years in industry, it's time for me to give back. One way I have done that is through my involvement with FIRST Robotics. Over the past 15+ years I have been a FIRST parent, mentor, and team leader. More recently I have been judging in FLL and FRC tournaments at the regional, state, and national level. The other way I give back is through teaching. I take a great deal of pride and pleasure in helping students get off to a good start in their engineering careers. And there is nothing more rewarding than a former student stopping by several years later to say 'Thanks'. View Profile
Cagdas Denizel Onal

Cagdas Denizel Onal

Associate Professor
Graduate Coordinator
Mechanical Engineering
Office: Higgins Labs 105
Phone: +1-508-831-4857
An integral part of a rewarding academic career is being an educator. It is a wonderful opportunity to work with students and guide their development to fulfill their potential. I enjoy teaching the fundamentals of robotics engineering, science and technology as well as training students in advanced independent research. I aim to teach students about research-based thinking and problem solving, to give them a real career choice to determine their future in further research or the industry. ... View Profile
Mohammad Mahdi Agheli Hajiabadi

Mohammad Mahdi Agheli Hajiabadi

Assistant Research Professor
Robotics Engineering
Office: 100 Institute RD
Phone: +1-508-831-6866
Nicholas Bertozzi

Nicholas Bertozzi

Senior Instructor
Computer Science
Office: 85 Prescott 207
Phone: 508-831-6166
I am delighted to return to full-time teaching as an instructor in the robotics engineering program at WPI after a long and very satisfying career at Daniel Webster College (DWC) where I had the opportunity to teach courses in engineering design (including CAD/CAM), statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, aerodynamics, and differential equations. I also had the privilege to serve as dean of the DWC School of Engineering and Computer Science (5/2009-12/2015). ... View Profile
Berk Calli

Berk Calli

Assistant Professor
Computer Science
Office: 85 Prescott Street, Room: 310
Phone: +1-508-831-5448
Berk's research primarily focuses on problems related to robotic manipulation, which is a key functionality largely missing from the current state of the art in robotics for unstructured environments, including homes, modern warehouses, and collaborative manufacturing stations. He develops multi-modal robotic manipulation strategies mainly focusing on the role of vision feedback for coping with uncertainties of unstructured environments. ... View Profile
Loris Fichera

Loris Fichera

Assistant Professor
Computer Science
Office: 85 Prescott 223A
Phone: 508-831-5021
My research interests are in the application of robotics and computer science to enhance medicine, and particularly surgery. What gets me out of bed in the morning is the prospect of helping doctors save lives and improve the quality of life of their patients. My students and I work side-to-side with clinical collaborators to create technology that presents a tangible clinical value – for instance, making an existing surgical procedure more accurate or enabling new procedures that are not feasible with current instrumentation. ... View Profile
Gregory S. Fischer

Gregory S. Fischer

Professor
William Smith Dean’s Professor
Director, Automation and Interventional Medicine Robotics Research Laboratory (AIM Lab)
Director, PracticePoint Healthcare Cyber-physical Systems R&D Center
Mechanical Engineering
Office: 85 Prescott 234
Phone: +1-508-831-5261
Professor Fischer is the William Smith Dean's Professor and a faculty member in Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Engineering with an appointment in Biomedical Engineering at WPI. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 2008 from Johns Hopkins University, where he was part of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Computer Integrated Surgery. At WPI he has been an integral part of developing the Robotics Engineering program and teaches primarily junior-level and graduate courses in Robotics. ... View Profile
Jie Fu

Jie Fu

Assistant Professor
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Office: 85 Prescott 222
Phone: +1-508-831-4963
My research leverages control theory, formal methods, and machine learning to construct adaptive, provably correct cyber-physical systems with respect to complex specifications. The challenges I am currently interested in include: reactive robotic systems under partial information and modeling uncertainty, multi-robot coordination, optimal control of hybrid systems, and design of adaptive semi-autonomous systems. View Profile
Michael A. Gennert

Michael A. Gennert

Professor
Computer Science
Office: 85 Prescott 203
Phone: +1-508-831-5476
I teach and conduct research to solve problems that will make the world better: safer, healthier, and happier. Working with undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, and other faculty, we develop humanoid robots for disaster recovery, robots to inspect trees for invasive insect pests, and autonomous boats for monitoring lakes. In the past I have worked on medical imaging to improve cancer and heart disease diagnoses and treatment, and spatio-temporal databases for global change research. In my spare time I like to hike, bike, ski, canoe, and play frisbee. View Profile
Zhi Li

Zhi Li

Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering
Office: 85 Prescott 223C
Phone: 508-831-6351
My research on the synergy of human and robotic systems aims to develop motion and task planning strategies for wearable and humanoid robots, based on the behavior and preference demonstrated in human motion coordination and task plans. For wearable robots such as the upper limb exoskeletons for stroke rehabilitation, the arm posture of the robots cannot be appropriately determined using the general kinematic redundancy resolution methods for manipulation robots, yet it can be accurately predicted based on human perception-action coordination. ... View Profile
William R. Michalson

William R. Michalson

Professor
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Office: 85 Prescott 204
Phone: +1-508-831-5766
I joined the faculty of the ECE Department in 1991 after leaving Raytheon Company, where I spent approximately 12 years involved with the development of embedded computers for guidance, communications, and data processing systems for spaceborne and terrestrial applications. At WPI I perform research and teach in the areas of navigation, communications, and computer system design. ... View Profile
Carlo Pinciroli

Carlo Pinciroli

Assistant Professor
Computer Science
Office: 85 Prescott 223B
Phone: 508-831-6853, +1-508-831-6853
The focus of my research is designing innovative tools for swarm robotics. I am developing Buzz, a programming language specifically designed for real-world robot swarms. During my Ph.D., I have designed ARGoS, which is currently the fastest general-purpose robot simulator in the literature. I am also working on swarm robotics solutions for disaster response scenarios, such as search-and-rescue and firefighting. View Profile
Marko B. Popovic

Marko B. Popovic

Assistant Research Professor
Physics
Office: 85 Prescott 213
Phone: +1-508-831-4937, +1-617-470-8198, +1-508-831-5378, +1-508-831-5392
Marko B. Popovic's research interest ranges from fundamental physics, e.g. particle physics, to human neurosensory-motor organization, engineering robotics systems that assist and augment humans, biomechatronics, and bioinspired engineering. He is the founder and director of Popovic Labs http://users.wpi.edu/~mpopovic/ where researchers study physics, biomechanics, and robotics with the goal of answering how living systems function and to synthesize systems that have resembling architecture and functionality and/or may improve life. ... View Profile
Kenneth A. Stafford

Kenneth A. Stafford

Teaching Professor
Undergraduate Studies
Office: Higgins Lab 011
Phone: +1-508-831-6122
Haichong (Kai) Zhang

Haichong (Kai) Zhang

Assistant Professor
Biomedical Engineering
Office: 85 Prescott Suite 311
The research program led by Dr. Haichong (Kai) Zhang focuses on the interface of medical robotics, sensing, and imaging, and to develop a novel biomedical imaging systems that delineates both anatomical and physiological properties of a biological tissue that have been inaccessible. In addition, we will develop robotic assisted imaging systems as well as image-guided robotic interventional platforms, where ultrasound and photoacoustic (PA) imaging are two key modalities to be investigated and integrated with robotics. ... View Profile

Research Staff

Christopher Nycz

Christopher Nycz

Research Scientist
Robotics Engineering

Education: 
PhD Robotics Engineering WPI 2018
MS Robotics Engineering WPI 2016
BS Mechanical Engineering Clarkson University 2013


Christopher Nycz is a research scientist working with WPI's PracticePoint center for advancing healthcare cyber-physical systems. In this role, Chris is responsible for managing a broad range of industry-academia projects in areas including biomechatronics, image guided therapy, smart-home environments, and surgical robotics.
Chris’s research interests are in the use of wearable robotics to restore hand function of those suffering paresis as a result of neurological trauma and disease. In his doctoral research he applied a patient-centric approach to hand exoskeletons, working to translate the clinical need as communicated by patients and practitioners into quantitative engineering design criteria and clinically relevant mechanisms. In addition to his work with assistive technologies, Chris has contributed to the design and testing of MRI guided robots for improved diagnosis and treatment of cancer and has a broad interest in healthcare robotics. 

Staff

Kristen Bronger

Kristen Bronger

Administrative Assistant V
Computer Science
Phone: 508-831-6629
Alexander Camilo

Alexander Camilo

Lab Manager I
Computer Science
Katherine Crighton

Katherine Crighton

Administrative Assistant VI
Computer Science
Phone: 508-831-6665

Katherine provides administrative support to the Robotics Program. These responsibilities include purchasing supplies for faculty and students, working with the undergraduate program, and overseeing student payroll. She has a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College in English, with a concentration in Creative Writing, and so naturally she spent several years in both science fiction and academic STEM publishing. Katherine enjoys spending time with her family, crafting, and watching appalling movies.

Kevin Harrington

Kevin Harrington

Robotics Lab Manager I
Computer Science
Bradley A. Miller

Bradley A. Miller

Associate Director, Robotics Resource Center
Undergraduate Studies
Office: Atwater Kent 121
Phone: +1-508-831-6796
Colleen Shaver

Colleen Shaver

Assoc Dir, Robotics Res Center
Undergraduate Studies
Office: Higgins Lab 014
Phone: +1-508-831-6750

Associated Faculty

Name Title Email Phone Extension Office Location
Emmanuel O. Agu Associate Professor emmanuel@wpi.edu 5568 Fuller Labs, 139
Holly Ault Associate Professor hkault@wpi.edu 5498 Higgins Labs, 208
Scott Barton Assistant Professor sdbarton@wpi.edu 5260 Alden Memorial, 208
Torbjorn Bergstrom Operations Manager torbjorn@wpi.edu 5122 Washburn Shops, 107
Christopher Brown Professor brown@wpi.edu 5627 Washburn Shops, 235
Michael Ciaraldi Professor of Practice ciaraldi@wpi.edu 5117 Fuller Laboratories, 129
Raghvendra Cowlagi Assistant Professor rvcowlagi@wpi.edu 6405 Higgins Labs, 247
Michael Demetriou Professor mdemetri@wpi.edu 5459 Higgins Labs, 243
R. James Duckworth Associate Professor rjduck@wpi.edu 5204 Atwater Kent Laboratories, 301
Cosme Furlong Associate Professor cfurlong@wpi.edu 5126 Higgins Laboratories, 152
Allen Hoffman Professor ahoffman@wpi.edu 5217 Higgins Laboratories, 107
Xinming Huang Associate Professor xhuang@wpi.edu 5771 Atwater Kent Laboratories, 303
Dmitry Korkin Associate Professor dkorkin@wpi.edu   Fuller Laboratories, BL22
Yuxiang Shawn Liu Assistant Professor yliu11@wpi.edu 4829 Higgins Laboratories, 110
Fred Looft Professor fjlooft@wpi.edu 5369 Atwater Kent Laboratories, 012
Carlos Morato Adjunct Professor cwmorato@wpi.edu    
John Nafziger Adjunct Professor jsnafziger@wpi.edu    
Pradeep Radhakrishnan Assistant Teaching Professor pradhakrishnan@wpi.edu    
Lenore Rasmussen Adjunct Professor wlrasmussen@wpi.edu   85 Prescott
Candace Sidner Research Professor sidner@wpi.edu 6637 Fuller Laboratories, 140
Jeanine Skorinko Associate Professor skorninko@wpi.edu 5451 Salisbury Laboratories, 371C
Erin Solovey Associate Professor esolovey@wpi.edu 6936 Fuller Laboratories, B21
Alexander Wyglinski Associate Professor alexw@wpi.edu 5491 Atwater Kent Laboratories, 230

Faculty Emeritus

Name Title Email
David Cyganski Professor cyganski@wpi.edu

Affiliated Researchers

Name Email
Hideyuki Kimpara hkimpara@wpi.edu
Dmitry Berenson dberenson@wpi.edu
Sonia Chernova soniac@wpi.edu
Taskin Padir tpadir@wpi.edu
Eduardo Torres-Jara etorresj@wpi.edu