The Lin Lab focuses on applying the principles of mechanical engineering to a wide range of applications in growing fields, including MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems), NEMS (Nanoelectromechanical systems), Nanotechnology, Synthesis of Nanomaterials, BioMEMS, Microfluidics, Plasmonics, and Energy.
Research Interest
Berkeley Robotics & Human Engineering Laboratory
Our research activities are focused on the design and control of a class of robotic systems worn or operated by humans to augment human mechanical strength, while the wearer’s intellect remains the central control system for manipulating the robot. Human power extenders can be used to maneuver heavy loads with great dexterity, speed, and precision, …
Gu Research Group
The Gu Research Group works at the intersection of mechanics, additive manufacturing, materials, and computer science. We aim to make additive manufacturing more accessible, economical, and ubiquitous. Using a bioinspired algorithmic-driven design approach, we harness tools such as advanced computational analysis, machine learning, and topology optimization to expand and revolutionize the field of smart additive manufacturing …
BEST Lab
The BEST (Berkeley [Energy and Sustainability Technologies/ Expert Systems Technologies/ Emergent Space Tensegrities]) Lab conducts research at the intersection of cutting-edge frontiers in design research, computational design, sustainability, gender equity, human-machine cognition, supervisory control, soft robotics, sensor fusion, design research and intelligent learning systems.
Embodied Dexterity Group
Our group improves robot and human dexterity through building end-effectors and mechanisms with embodied intelligence and robustness, especially for challenging unstructured environments. This includes the design of (1) novel grippers, hands and exoskeletons, (2) touch perception for autonomous or teleoperated interventions and (3) bioinspired manipulation strategies. This vision includes the advancement of relevant design analysis …
Hayden Taylor
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
6159 Etcheverry HallUniversity of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
hkt@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-4901
For more information see: Design for Nanomanufacturing
Current Classes Taught
Hayden Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He was previously an Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Biosystems and Micromechanics group at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, and a Research Associate in the Microsystems Technology Laboratories at MIT.
Hayden was born in Bristol, United Kingdom, in 1981. He attended Bristol Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, receiving the B.A. and M.Eng. degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2004. He was sponsored as an undergraduate by ST Microelectronics. He is a Senior Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, and received the Cambridge University Engineering Department’s Baker Prize in 2004. Hayden received the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 2009, working with Professor Duane Boning.
Hayden is a member of the IEEE, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and the Institute of Physics. He was an Institution of Electrical Engineers Jubilee Scholar 2000-4, and was a Kennedy Scholar for the academic year 2004-5.
To view Professor Taylor’s CV, please click here.
Research Description:
The invention, modeling and simulation of micro- and nano-manufacturing processes, materials-testing techniques operating down to the nanoscale, and applications of polymeric materials in micro- and nano-fabrication—including for tissue scaffold engineering.
Key Publications:
To view a list of Professor Taylor’s publications, please visit the Design for Nanomanufacturing website.
Hannah Stuart
Don M. Cunningham Endowed Professorship in Mechanical Engineering
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Don M. Cunningham Endowed Professorship in Mechanical Engineering
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
hstuart@berkeley.edu
(510) 643-9786
For more information see: Embodied Dexterity Group (EDG)
Current Classes Taught
Hannah Stuart received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from the George Washington University in 2011. She then completed her MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University in 2013 and 2018 respectively.
Research Description:
Professor Stuart’s research interests include: Dexterous manipulation; Bioinspired design; Soft and multi-material mechanisms; Skin contact conditions; Tactile sensing and haptics.
Mobile robots face a rapidly expanding range of potential applications, including remote exploration, search-and-rescue and household assistance. In many of these cases, the focus of interaction is via the robot’s end-effectors. However, current manipulators have limited capabilities in comparison to their biological counterparts. Our group is interested in improving robot dexterity through building end-effectors with embodied intelligence and robustness, especially for challenging submerged or wet environments. This includes the design of (1) novel grippers and hands, (2) touch perception for autonomous or teleoperated interventions and (3) bioinspired manipulation strategies. This vision includes the advancement of relevant design analysis tools and the validation of concepts by applying technologies in the field.
Key Publications:
Treers, L. K., Cao, C., & Stuart, H. S. (2021). Granular resistive force theory implementation for three-dimensional trajectories. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 6(2), 1887-1894. https://ieeexplore.
Open source files available: https://github.com/
Li, M. S., Melville, D., Chung, E., & Stuart, H. S. (2020). Milliscale features increase friction of soft skin in lubricated contact. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 5(3), 4781-4787. https://ieeexplore.
Negrello, F., Stuart, H. S., & Catalano, M. G. (2020). Hands in the real world. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 6, 147. https://www.frontiersin.
Stuart, H. S., Wang, S., & Cutkosky, M. R. (2018). Tunable contact conditions and grasp hydrodynamics using gentle fingertip suction. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 35(2), 295-306. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/
Stuart, H., Wang, S., Khatib, O., Cutkosky, M.R. (2017). “The Ocean One hands: An adaptive design for robust marine manipulation.” The International Journal of Robotics Research, 36(2):150-166. https://journals.sagepub.com/
Lisa Pruitt
Lawrence Talbot Chair in Engineering
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Lawrence Talbot Chair in Engineering
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
lpruitt@berkeley.edu
For more information see: Medical Polymer Group
Current Classes Taught
To view Professor Pruitt’s CV, please click here.
Research Description:
Research is focused on structure-property relationships in orthopedic tissues, biomaterials and medical polymers. Current projects include the assessment of fatigue fracture mechanisms and tribological performance of orthopedic biomaterials, as well as characterization of orthopedic tissues and associated devices. Surface modifications using plasma chemistry are used to optimize polymers for medical applications. Attention is focused on wear, fatigue and multiaxial loading. Retrievals of orthopedic implants are characterized to model in vivo degradation and physiological loading. Biomechanical characterization of structural tissues is performed to assess clinical treatments and to develop constitutive relationships. Laboratory techniques for structural characterization include SEM, TEM, FEM, SAXS, USAXS, XPS, DSC, GPC, FTIR, AFM, confocal microscopy, wear testing, fatigue testing, fracture mechanics analysis, and nanoindentation. Research has been supported by NIH, NSF, ONR, DARPA, OREF and industry. Pedagogical experience includes curriculum development in mechanical engineering and bioengineering. Teaching includes freshman seminars; undergraduate courses on Mechanical Behavior and Processing of Materials, Structural Aspects of Biomaterials, and Principles of Bioengineering; graduate courses on Fracture Mechanics, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, and Polymer Engineering.
Key Publications:
2014
F. Ansari, C. Major, T. R. Norris, S. B. Gunther, M. Ries, and L. Pruitt. “Unscrewing instability of modular reverse shoulder prosthesis increases propensity for in vivo fracture: a report of two cases.” Journal of shoulder and elbow surgery/American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons…[et al.] 23, no. 2 (2014): e40-5.
E.W. Patten, D. Van Citters, M. D. Ries, and L. Pruitt. “Quantifying cross-shear under translation, rolling, and rotation, and its effect on UHMWPE wear.” Wear 313, no. 1 (2014): 125-134.
To view a complete list of Professor Pruitt’s publications from previous years, please click here.
Sara McMains
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
5145 Etcheverry HallUniversity of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
mcmains@me.berkeley.edu
(510) 852-9359
For more information see: McMains Home Page
Current Classes Taught
Dr. McMains is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests include Geometric DFM (Design for Manufacturing) feedback, geometric solid modeling, CAD/CAM, GPU algorithms, computer aided process planning, layered manufacturing, computer graphics, visualization, virtual prototyping, and virtual reality. Her current research focuses on new techniques for accessibility analysis and collision detection, with applications in haptic design environments, design for manufacturing for injection molding, design for cleanability, layered manufacturing, and machining.
McMains received her A.B. from Harvard University in Computer Science, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Computer Science with a minor in Mechanical Engineering. She is the recipient of Best Paper Awards from Usenix (1995) and ASME DETC (2000), a Best Poster and a Best Paper Award from the ACM Solid and Physical Modeling Symposium (2007, 2008 — 2nd place), and the NSF CAREER Award (2005).
Research Description:
Geometric and solid modeling, computer aided design, computer aided manufacturing, layered manufacturing, computer graphics and visualization, virtual prototyping, virtual reality.
Liwei Lin
James Marshall Wells Academic Chair in Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
James Marshall Wells Academic Chair
Co-Director, Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
lwlin@berkeley.edu
(510) 643-5495
For more information see: Lin Lab
Lin Home Page
Current Classes Taught
2006 – 2009 Vice Chair – Graduate Study, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California at Berkeley
2004 Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California at Berkeley
2001 Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California at Berkeley
1999 Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California at Berkeley
1996 Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Michigan
1994 Associate Professor, Institute of Applied Mechanics, National Taiwan University
1993 Senior Research Scientist, BEI Electronics Inc.
1993 PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley
1991 MS, Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley
1986 BS, Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University
Research Description:
MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems); NEMS (Nanoelectromechanical Systems); Nanotechnology; design and manufacturing of microsensors and microactuators; development of micromachining processes by silicon surface/bulk micromachining; micromolding process; mechanical issues in MEMS including heat transfer, solid/fluid mechanics, and dynamics.
Key Publications:
For a list of Professor Lin’s publications, please click here.
Homayoon Kazerooni
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
6147 Etcheverry HallUniversity of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
kazerooni@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-2964
For more information see: Berkeley Robotics & Human Engineering Laboratory
Current Classes Taught
Dr. Kazerooni is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as the director of the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory. With more than 30 years of mechanical engineering experience and a doctorate degree from MIT, he is a leading expert in robotics, control sciences, exoskeletons, human-machine systems and augmentation, bioengineering, mechatronics design, intelligent assist devices, and power and propulsion. Prior to his more well-known research on lower extremity exoskeletons, Dr. Kazerooni led his team at Berkeley to successfully develop robotics systems that enhanced human upper extremity strength. The results of this work led to a new class of intelligent assist devices that are currently used by manual laborers in distribution centers and factories all over the world. These technologies are currently marketed worldwide by leading material handling corporations.
Dr. Kazerooni’s later work focuses on the control of human-machine systems specific to lower human extremities. After developing BLEEX, ExoHiker, and ExoClimber–three super-light, load-carrying exoskeletons–his team at Berkeley created HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier). It is the first energetically-autonomous, orthotic, lower extremity exoskeleton that allows its user to carry 200-pound weights in various terrains for an extended period, without becoming physically overwhelmed. The technology was licensed to Lockheed Martin and now is used for a variety of military applications. Dr. Kazerooni has also developed lower-extremity technology to aid persons who have experienced a stroke, spinal cord injuries, or health conditions that obligate them to use a wheelchair. His medical exoskeleton, Ekso, has successfully allowed those who have been paralyzed to walk, stand, and speak face to face with peers in an upright position.
In addition to his teaching work and research experience in a academia, Dr. Kazerooni is also an entrepreneur. In 2005, he founded Ekso Bionics (www.eksobionics.com), which went on to become a publicly-owned company in 2014 and now supplies medical exoskeleton (Ekso) to a great number of rehabilitation centers worldwide. He is the founder and chairperson of U.S. Bionics, a VC, industry, and government funded company that provides accessible, affordable exoskeletons for the industrial, medical, and military markets (www.usbionics.com).
Dr. Kazerooni has won numerous awards including Discover Magazine’s Technological Innovation Award, the McKnight-Land Grant Professorship, and has been a recipient of the outstanding ASME Investigator Award. His research was recognized as the most innovative technology of the year in New York Times Magazine. He has served in a variety of leadership roles in the mechanical engineering community and is notably the editor of two journals: ASME Journal of Dynamics Systems and Control and IEEE Transaction on Mechatronics. A recognized authority on robotics, Dr. Kazerooni has published more than 200 articles to date, delivered over 130 plenary lectures internationally, and is the inventors of numerous patents.
Research Description:
Bioengineering, robotics, control systems, mechatronics, design, automated manufacturing and human-machine systems
Key Publications:
To view a list of Professor Kazerooni’s publications, please visit the Berkeley Robotics & Human Engineering Laboratory’s website.
Grace X. Gu
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
6177 Etcheverry HallUniversity of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
ggu@berkeley.edu
(510) 643-4996
For more information see: Gu Research Group
Current Classes Taught
Education:
PhD Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2018
MS Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2014
BS Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2012
Research Description:
Research interests: Composites, additive manufacturing, fracture mechanics, topology optimization, machine learning, finite element analysis, and bioinspired materials.
Key Publications:
GX Gu and MJ Buehler. Tunable mechanical properties through texture control of polycrystalline additively manufactured materials using adjoint-based gradient optimization. Acta Mechanica, 2018, Accepted
GX Gu, CT Chen, and MJ Buehler. De novo composite design based on machine learning algorithm. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 18:19-28, 2018
GX Gu, M Takaffoli, and MJ Buehler. Hierarchically enhanced impact resistance of bioinspired composites. Advanced Materials, 29 (28), 2017
GX Gu, S Wettermark, and MJ Buehler. Algorithm driven design of fracture resistant composite materials realized through additive manufacturing. Additive Manufacturing, 17:47-54, 2017
GX Gu, F Libonati, S Wettermark, and MJ. Buehler. Printing nature: Unraveling the role of nacre’s mineral bridges. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 76:135-144, 2017
To view a complete list of Professor Gu’s publications, please visit the Gu Research Group website.
Kosa Goucher-Lambert
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
6179 Etcheverry HallUniversity of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
kosa@berkeley.edu
(510) 664-5376
For more information see: Current Classes Taught
Co-Design Lab
Kosa Goucher-Lambert is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an Affiliate Faculty member in the Jacobs Institute of Design Innovation and the Berkeley Institute of Design. Kosa received his B.A. (2011) in Physics from Occidental College, and his M.S. (2014) and Ph.D. (2017) in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. His primary research interests focus on understanding decision-making processes in engineering design using a combination of mathematical analyses, computational modeling, human cognitive studies, and neuroimaging approaches. Kosa was a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2014 ASME IDETC Design Theory and Methodology Best Paper Award, 2015, 2017, and 2019 International Conference on Engineering Design Reviewers Favorite Award, and 2019 Excellence in Design Science Award. Kosa primarily teaches courses on integrated product development, with an emphasis on complex socio-technical challenges.
Research Description:
Design theory, methodology, and automation: decision-making applied to engineering teams and individuals; ideation and creativity; analogical reasoning in design; preference modeling and design attribute optimization; design cognition; neuroimaging methods applied to design; sustainable design; new product development; crowdsourcing and collaboration.
Key Publications:
To view a list of Professor Goucher-Lambert’s publications, please click here.
Alice M. Agogino
Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School
Product Design Concentration Founder and Head Advisor, MEng Program
Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Chair in Mechanical Engineering (7/1/2008-12/31/20221)
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720
agogino@berkeley.edu
(510) 666-3704
For more information see: Best Lab
Current Classes Taught
Click here to view Professor Agogino’s biography, and here to view her CV.
Research Description:
Intelligent learning systems; information retrieval and data mining; multiobjective and strategic product design; nonlinear optimization; probabilistic modeling; intelligent control and manufacturing; sensor validation, fusion and diagnostics; wireless sensor networks; multimedia and computer-aided design; design databases; design theory and methods; MEMS Synthesis and CAD; artificial intelligence and decision and expert systems; gender equity.
Key Publications:
Click here for a list of Professor Agogino’s publications.