David Cyganski
Professor Emeritus
cyganski@wpi.edu
Faculty
Jing Xiao
Professor and Director of the RBE Program
Email: jxiao2@wpi.edu
Office: 85 Prescott Street, Suite 201
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
Senior Instructor
Email: cbputnam@wpi.edu
Office: 85 Prescott 208
Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x6658
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
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
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
Assistant Professor-Computer Science
Email: bcalli@wpi.edu
Office: 85 Prescott Street, Room: 310
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
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
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
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
Professor
Email: michaelg@wpi.edu
Office: 85 Prescott 203
Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x5476
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
Greg Lewin
Assistant Teaching Professor-Computer Science
Email: glewin@wpi.edu
Office: 85 Prescott, Rm 202A
Dr. Lewin teaches courses in the Robotics Engineering Program, where he focuses on system integration, sensor and data processing, and system design. Prior to joining WPI, Dr. Lewin was an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia, where he directed the Technology Leaders Program, an interdisciplinary engineering program focusing on the design of cyber-physical systems. He has performed research and development of sensor systems, turbomachinery, energy systems, and robots in both academic and industrial settings. ... View Profile
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
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
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
Assistant Research Professor
Email: mpopovic@wpi.edu
Office: 85 Prescott 213
Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x5378
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
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 Julius Nycz
Research -RSI
Robotics Engineeirng
Email: cjnycz@wpi.edu
Office: PracticePoint, 50 Prescott Street, 3rd Floor
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. ... View Profile
Staff
Katherine J. Crighton
Administrative Assistant VI
Office: 85 Prescott 216
Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x6665
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, writing, and watching appalling movies.
View Profile
Bradley A. Miller
Assoc Dir Robotics Res Ctr
Robotics Engineeirng
Email: bamiller@wpi.edu
Office: Atwater Kent 121
Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x6796
Francis P O'Rourke
Assistant Director, Robotics Resource Center
Robotics Engineeirng
Email: fporourke@wpi.edu
Phone: +1 (508) 8316192 x6192
Colleen Shaver
Director, Robotics Resource Center
Email: colleen@wpi.edu
Office: Higgins Lab 014
Phone: +1 (508) 8315000 x6750
Faculty Emeritus
Associated Faculty
| Name | Title | 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 |
| Cosme Furlong | Associate Professor | cfurlong@wpi.edu | 5126 | Higgins Laboratories, 152 |
| Glenn R. Gaudette | Professor | gaudette@wpi.edu | 6086 | Gateway Park 4012 |
| 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 | ||
| 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 |
| Yihao Zheng | Assistant Professor | yzheng8@wpi.edu | 4649 | Higgins Laboratories, 150 |
Affiliated Researchers
| Name | |
|---|---|
| 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 |