Aaron Young

Aaron Young
aaron.young@me.gatech.edu

Aaron Young is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering and is interested in designing and improving powered orthotic and prosthetic control systems for persons with stroke, neurological injury or amputation. His previous experience includes a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan in the Human Neuromechanics Lab working with exoskeletons and powered orthoses to augment human performance. He has also worked on the control of upper and lower limb prostheses at the Center for Bionic Medicine (CBM) at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. His master's work at CBM focused on the use of pattern recognition systems using myoelectric (EMG) signals to control upper limb prostheses. His dissertation work at CBM focused on sensory fusion of mechanical and EMG signals to enable an intent recognition system for powered lower limb prostheses for use by persons with a transfemoral amputation.

Associate Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Director, EPIC Lab
Phone
404.385.5306
Office
GTMI 433
Additional Research

Powered prosthesis; EMG signal processing. Young's research is focused on developing control systems to improve prosthetic and orthotic systems. His research is aimed at developing clinically translatable research that can be deployed on research and commercial systems in the near future. Some of the interesting research questions are how to successfully extract user intent from human subjects and how to use these signals to allow for accurate intent identification. Once the user intent is identified, smart control systems are needed to maximally enable individuals to accomplish useful tasks. For lower limb devices, these tasks might include standing from a seated position, walking, or climbing a stair. We hope to improve clinically relevant measures with powered mechatronic devices, including reducing metabolic cost, improving biomechanics and decreasing the time required to perform daily tasks of living.

IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Robotics > Core Faculty
Robotics
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

W. Hong Yeo

W. Hong Yeo
woonhong.yeo@me.gatech.edu

W. Hong Yeo is a TEDx alumnus and biomechanical engineer. Since 2017, Yeo is a professor of the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and Program Faculty in Bioengineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Before joining Georgia Tech, he has worked at Virginia Commonwealth University Medicine and Engineering as an assistant professor from 2014-2016. Yeo received his BS in mechanical engineering from INHA University, South Korea in 2003 and he received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and genome sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle in 2011. From 2011-2013, he worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Beckman Institute and Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on the fundamental and applied aspects of nanomechanics, biomolecular interactions, soft materials, and nano-microfabrication for nanoparticle biosensing and unusual electronic system development, with an emphasis on bio-interfaced translational nanoengineering. is an Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group) and Scientific Pages of Bioengineering, and Review Editor of Frontiers of Materials (Frontiers Publishing Group). He serves as a technical committee member for IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference and Korea Technology Advisory Group at Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has three issued and more than five pending patents. His research has been funded by MEDARVA Foundation, Thomas F. and Kate Miller Jeffress Memorial Trust, CooperVision, Inc., Korea Institute of Materials Science, Commonwealth Research Commercialization, and State Council of Virginia. Yeo is a recipient of a number of awards, including BMES Innovation and Career Development Award, Virginia Commercialization Award, Blavatnik Award Nominee, NSF Summer Institute Fellowship, Notable Korean Scientist Awards, and Best Paper/Poster Awards at ASME conferences.

Professor, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Faculty, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Director, WISH Center
Phone
404.385.5710
Office
Pettit 204
Additional Research

Human-machine interface; hybrid materials; bio-MEMS; Soft robotics. Flexible Electronics; Human-machine interface; hybrid materials; Electronic Systems, Devices, Components, & Packaging; bio-MEMS; Soft robotics. Yeo's research in the field of biomedical science and bioengineering focuses on the fundamental and applied aspects of biomolecular interactions, soft materials, and nano-microfabrication for the development of nano-biosensors and soft bioelectronics.

IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
People and Technology > Affiliated Faculty
Robotics > Core Faculty
Matter and Systems > Affiliated Faculty
People and Technology
Robotics
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Research Areas
Matter and Systems
  • Computing and Communication Technologies
  • Human-Centric Technologies

Gil Weinberg

Gil Weinberg
gilw@gatech.edu

Gil Weinberg is a professor and the founding director of Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology, where he leads the Robotic Musicianship group. His research focuses on developing artificial creativity and musical expression for robots and augmented humans. Among his projects are a marimba playing robotic musician called Shimon that uses machine learning for Jazz improvisation, and a prosthetic robotic arm for amputees that restores and enhances human drumming abilities. Weinberg presented his work worldwide in venues such as The Kennedy Center, The World Economic Forum, Ars Electronica, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Museum, SIGGRAPH, TED-Ed, DLD and others. His music was performed with Orchestras such as Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the National Irish Symphony Orchestra, and the Scottish BBC Symphony while his research has been disseminated through numerous journal articles and patents. Dr. Weinberg received his MS and Ph.D. degrees in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT and his BA from the interdisciplinary program for fostering excellence in Tel Aviv University.

Professor; School of Music
Coordinator | M.S. & Ph.D. Programs; School of Music
Director; Center for Music Technology
Phone
404.894.8939
Additional Research

Music Technology; Computer Music; Robotics; Developing Artificial Creativity and Musical Expression for Robots and Augmented Humans

IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Data Engineering and Science > Faculty
People and Technology > Affiliated Faculty
Robotics > Core Faculty
Data Engineering and Science
People and Technology
Robotics
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Design > School of Music

Jun Ueda, Ph.D.

Jun Ueda, Ph.D.
jun.ueda@me.gatech.edu

Jun Ueda received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Kyoto University, Japan, in 1994, 1996, and 2002 all in Mechanical Engineering. From 1996 to 2000, he was a Research Engineer at the Advanced Technology Research and Development Center, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan. He was an Assistant Professor of Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, from 2002 to 2008. During 2005-2008, he was a visiting scholar and lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined the G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor in 2008 where he is currently a Professor. He received Fanuc FA Robot Foundation Best Paper Award in 2005, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Academic Career Award in 2009, Advanced Robotics Best Paper Award in 2015, and Nagamori Award in 2021. 

Professor
Phone
404.385.3900
Office
Love 219
IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Robotics
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Jun Ueda

Jun Ueda
jun.ueda@me.gatech.edu

Jun Ueda joined Georgia Tech in May 2008 as Assistant Professor. Before Georgia Tech, he was a Visiting Scholar and Lecturer at MIT, where he worked on the development and control of cellular actuators inspired by biological muscle. He developed compliant, large strain piezoelectric actuators and a robust control method called stochastic broadcast feedback. From 2002-2008 he was Assistant Professor at Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, where he led a research group dedicated to dynamics and control in robotics, such as robot hand manipulation, tactile sensing, and power-assisting. From 1996 to 2002 and prior to obtaining his Ph.D, he worked at the Advanced Technology R&D Center of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in Japan. Here he was involved in a variety of activities including disk drives, machine tools, and satellite tracking antennas. His Ph.D. work at Kyoto University was on the end-point control of a robot manipulator mounted on a non-rigid base. He studied feedback control robustness in terms of the coupling of the arm and base dynamics.

Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Director, Biorobotics & Human Modeling Lab
Phone
404.385.3900
Office
Love 219
Additional Research

Automation & Mechatronics; Bioengineering

IRI and Role
Robotics > Core Faculty
Robotics
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Maegan Tucker

Maegan Tucker
mtucker@gatech.edu

Maegan received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (ME) from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in May 2023. Prior, she also received a M.S. in ME from Caltech in 2019 and a B.S. in ME from Georgia Tech in 2017. After graduating with her Ph.D., Maegan conducted a brief postdoc at Caltech (May–August 2023), followed by a brief research position at Disney Research (September–December 2023). Generally speaking, her research interests lie at the intersection of control theory and human-robot interaction, with specific applications towards lower-limb assistive devices. Much of her research is centered around the question: “What is the right way to walk?”. In her free time, Maegan enjoys puzzles, playing video games, and the piano.

Maegan Tucker joined Georgia Tech as an assistant professor with joint appointments in the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering and the School of Mechanical Engineering in January 2024.

Assistant Professor
Additional Research

Lower-Body Assistive Devices Bipedal Locomotion Nonlinear Control Theory Human-Robot Interaction Preference-Based Learning Human Biomechanics

IRI and Role
Robotics > Core
Robotics
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Thad Starner

Thad Starner
thad.starner@cc.gatech.edu

Thad Starner is a Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Interactive Computing. Thad was perhaps the first to integrate a wearable computer into his everyday life as an intelligent personal assistant. Starner's work as a Ph.D. student would help found the field of Wearable Computing. His group's prototypes and patents on mobile MP3 players, mobile instant messaging and e-mail, gesture-based interfaces, and mobile context-based search foreshadowed now commonplace devices and services. Thad has authored over 100 scientific publications with over 100 co-authors on mobile Human Computer Interaction (HCI), pattern discovery, human power generation for mobile devices, and gesture recognition, and he is a founder and current co-chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Wearable Information Systems. His work is discussed in public forums such as CNN, NPR, the BBC, CBS's 60 Minutes, The New York Times, Nikkei Science, The London Independent, The Bangkok Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

Professor; School of Interactive Computing
Additional Research

Wearable Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Augmented Reality; Human Computer Interaction; Ubiquitous Computing

IRI and Role
People and Technology > Affiliated Faculty
Robotics > Affiliated Faculty
People and Technology
Robotics
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Computing > School of Interactive Computing

Minoru Shinohara

Minoru  Shinohara
shinohara@gatech.edu

Physiological and biomechanical mechanisms underlying fine motor skills and their adjustments and adaptations to heightened sympathetic nerve activity, aging or inactivity, space flight or microgravity, neuromuscular fatigue, divided attention, and practice in humans. He uses state-of-the-art techniques in neuroscience, physiology, and biomechanics (e.g., TMS, EEG, fMRI, single motor unit recordings, microneurography, mechanomyography, ultrasound elastography, and exoskeleton robot) in identifying these mechanisms.

Associate Professor; School of Biological Sciences
Phone
404.894.1030
Office
555 14th St | Suite 1309C
Additional Research

Neuromuscular Physiology

IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Robotics > Affiliated Faculty
Robotics
Bioengineering and Bioscience
Matter and Systems > Affiliated Faculty
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Sciences > School of Biological Sciences
Research Areas
Matter and Systems

Gregory Sawicki

Dr. Gregory S. Sawicki is an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech with appointments in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Biological Sciences.
gregory.sawicki@me.gatech.edu

Dr. Gregory S. Sawicki is the Interim Executive Director of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines and Professor and Joseph Anderer Faculty Fellow at Georgia Tech with appointments in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Biological Sciences. He holds a B.S. from Cornell University ('99) and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of California-Davis ('01). Dr. Sawicki completed his Ph.D. in Human Neuromechanics at the University of Michigan, Ann-Arbor ('07) and was an NIH-funded Post-Doctoral Fellow in Integrative Biology at Brown University ('07-'09). Dr. Sawicki was a faculty member in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at NC State and UNC Chapel Hill from 2009-2017. In summer of 2017, he joined the faculty at Georgia Tech with appointments in Mechanical Engineering 3/4 and Biological Sciences 1/4.

Executive Director of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (Interim)
Professor and Joseph Anderer Faculty Fellow; School of Mechanical Engineering & School of Biological Sciences
Director; PoWeR Lab
Phone
404.385.5706
Office
GTMI 411
Additional Research

wearable robotics; exoskeletons; locomotion; biomechanics; muscle mechanics

IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Robotics > Leadership
Robotics > Core Faculty
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Omer Inan

Omer Inan
omer.inan@ece.gatech.edu

Omer T. Inan received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 2004, 2005, and 2009, respectively.

He worked at ALZA Corporation in 2006 in the Drug Device Research and Development Group. From 2007-2013, he was chief engineer at Countryman Associates, Inc., designing and developing several high-end professional audio products. From 2009-2013, he was a visiting scholar in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford. In 2013, he joined the School of ECE at Georgia Tech as an assistant professor.

Inan is generally interested in designing clinically relevant medical devices and systems, and translating them from the lab to patient care applications. One strong focus of his research is in developing new technologies for monitoring chronic diseases at home, such as heart failure.

He and his wife were both varsity athletes at Stanford, competing in the discus and javelin throw events respectively.

Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Phone
404.385.1724
Office
TSRB 417
Additional Research

Medical devices for clinically-relevant applicationsNon-invasive physiological monitoringHome monitoring of chronic diseaseCardiomechanical signalsMedical instrumentation

IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
People and Technology > Affiliated Faculty
Robotics > Affiliated Faculty
Matter and Systems > Affiliated Faculty
Robotics
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research Areas
Matter and Systems
  • Human-Centric Technologies