Part of the Advanced Robotics and Mechanism Applications (ARMA) Lab at Vanderbilt University's Department of Mechanical Engineering, focusing on advanced robotics for medical applications
Research areas include robotics, mechanism design, control, and telemanipulation, with emphasis on high-dexterity snake-like surgical robots, steerable electrode arrays for cochlear implant surgery, single-port access surgery robots, and natural orifice surgery robots
Developing a new generation of surgical robots using flexible links, actuation redundancy, and novel mechanical architectures for microsurgery and minimally invasive surgery
Balances theoretical modeling with application-driven research to address socially beneficial engineering challenges
Collaborates closely with industry to translate research: snake robot technologies licensed to industry; retinal microsurgery technologies led to the founding of AURIS Surgical Robotics Inc.; IREP single-port robot licensed to Titan Medical Inc. as the research prototype for the Titan SPORT system
Strong emphasis on student involvement, offering research opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students, and running outreach programs for high-school students and science teachers