Click on a speaker to go to their webpage and learn more about them.
NOTE: The short bio's presented here are taken from each respective speaker's website.
Robert Wood - Harvard University (Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
Lena Ting - Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University (Department of Biomedical Engineering
Dawn Taylor - Case Western Reserve University (Department of Biomedical Engineering)
Jan Albiez - DFKI Robotics Lab Bremen
Metin Sitti - Carnegie Mellon University (Department of Mechanical Engineering)
Sanjay Sane - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (National Centre for Biological Sciences
Naomichi Ogihara - Kyoto University (Laboratory of Physical Anthropology)
Malcolm MacIver - Northwestern University (Depts. of Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering
Mirko Kovac - Ecole Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (Laboratory of Intelligent Systems)
Akio Ishiguro - Tohoku University (Electrical and Communication Engineering)
Auke Ijspeert - Ecol Polytenique Federale de Lausanne (Biologicaly-Inspired Robotics Group)
Mitra Hartmann - Northwestern University (Depts. of Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering)
Martin Fischer - Friedrich-Schiller University (Institute for Zoology and Evolutionary Biology)
Holk Cruse/Josef Schmitz - University of Beilefeld (Department of Biological Cybernetics)
Avis Cohen - University of Maryland (Department of Biology and Institute for Systems Research)
Hitoshi Aonuma - Hokkaido University (Animal Behavior and System Control Laboratory)
Hitoshi Aonuma - Hokkaido University (Animal Behavior and System Control Laboratory)
Dr. Aonuma is an associate professor at Animal Behavior and System Control Laboratory, Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University. He investigates the neuronal mechanisms underlying adaptive behavior of animals. In his laboratory, he mainly uses insects for his research. Insects provide a great model system to help us understanding neuronal mechanisms of adaptive behaviors. Insect nervous system has about 106 neurons in total and its brain has much less neurons to be so-called microbrain. Using insects as a model system, he performs different stages of analysis i.e. molecular level, cellular and network level, individual level and population level. The neurons in the microbrain can be rather easily accessible and can be identified by physiological and morphological criteria. Cricket is one of his major experimental animals to investigate mechanisms of neuronal plasticity, learning and memory, adaptive behavior and social behavior by using electrophysiological, pharmacological, biochemical and histochemical techniques.
Avis Cohen - University of Maryland (Department of Biology and Institute for Systems Research)
Holk Cruse/Josef Schmitz - University of Beilefeld (Department of Biological Cybernetics)
Martin Fischer - Friedrich-Schiller University (Institute for Zoology and Evolutionary Biology)
Mitra Hartmann - Northwestern University (Depts. of Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering)
Auke Ijspeert - Ecol Polytenique Federale de Lausanne (Biologicaly-Inspired Robotics Group)
Auke Ijspeert is a SNF (Swiss National Science Foundation) assistant professor at the EPFL (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne), and head of the Biologically Inspired Robotics Group (BIRG). He has a BSc/MSc in Physics from the EPFL, and a PhD in artificial intelligence from the University of Edinburgh (with John Hallam and David Willshaw as advisors). He carried out postdocs at IDSIA and EPFL (LAMI) with Jean-Daniel Nicoud and Luca Gambardella, and at the University of Southern California (USC), with Michael Arbib and Stefan Schaal. Before returning to the EPFL, he was a research assistant professor at USC, and an external collaborator at ATR (Advanced Telecommunications Research institute) in Japan. He is still affiliated as adjunct faculty to both institutes. His research interests are at the intersection between robotics, computational neuroscience, nonlinear dynamical systems, and adaptive algorithms (optimization and learning algorithms). He is interested in using numerical simulations and robots to get a better understanding of the functioning of animals (in particular their fascinating sensorimotor coordination abilities), and in using inspiration from biology to design novel types of robots and adaptive controllers. He is regularly invited to give talks on these topics. With his colleagues, he has received the Best Paper Award at ICRA2002 (out of 1172 submitted, 689 accepted papers), the Industrial Robot Highly Commended Award at CLAWAR2005, and the Best Paper Award at the IEEE-RAS Humanoids 2007 conference. He is/was the Technical Program Chair of 5 international conferences (BioADIT2004, SAB2004, AMAM2005, BioADIT2006, LATSIS2006), and has been a program committee member of over 30 conferences. Please visit the BIRG Home and BIRG publication pages for more information about his research and publications.
Mirko Kovac - Ecole Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (Laboratory of Intelligent Systems)
Akio Ishiguro - Tohoku University (Electrical and Communication Engineering)
Dr. Ishiguro is a professor at Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University. He is studying on "Modular Robot", "Legged Locomotion", "Hyper Elastic Robot" and so on.
Malcolm MacIver - Northwestern University (Depts. of Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering
One way to view an animal is that it represents an answer to the question: "What's out there that's relevant to my fitness, and how do I get there to acquire those resources?" There is both the informational, or sensory problem of detecting and assessing these resources, and the mechanical problem of moving to the resource, such as food or a mate. The research in my group is dedicated to understanding fundamental problems of how an animal's biomechanics relates to the animal's informational needs, particularly how to solve the problem of moving through space towards a target of interest while simultaneously increasing the quality of the information extracted from the biosensor arrays on the body surface. We are engaged in both a basic science understanding of these mechanisms, and applying the knowledge gained for the development of new technology, such as novel locomotor and sensory devices, where the integration of movement control and sensing is of key importance.
Naomichi Ogihara - Kyoto University (Laboratory of Physical Anthropology)
Dr. Ogihara is an assistant professor at Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Department of Zoology, Kyoto University. His research currently focuses on biomechanical analyses and computer simulations of human and non-human primate locomotion based on a neuro- musculoskeletal model towards biomechanical interpretation of causal relationships among morphology of locomotor apparatus, energy efficiency, and the evolution of human bipedality.
Sanjay Sane - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (National Centre for Biological Sciences
Metin Sitti - Carnegie Mellon University (Department of Mechanical Engineering)
Professor Sitti's research is focused on the development of micro- and nanoscale robotic and manufacturing systems for novel manufacturing, analysis, and control tools at the micro- and nanoscales by integrating robotics, nanotechnology, MEMS, and biotechnology fields. The other main motivation is to contribute to the understanding and controlling of adhesion and friction at the nanoscale.
Jan Albiez - DFKI Robotics Lab Bremen
Dawn Taylor - Case Western Reserve University (Department of Biomedical Engineering)
The long term goal of my research is to interface FES systems directly to the brain. Intended movement can be interpreted from the activity in the motor cortex, and we would like to use these signals to control FES systems. This would allow paralyzed individuals to move their limbs the same way everyone else does - just by thinking of doing so. I'm pursuing several parallel lines of research that will get us to that long-term goal.
Lena Ting - Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University (Department of Biomedical Engineering
Neuromechanics is the study of the interactions between the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system that lead to coordinated movements. We study neuromechanical influences on muscle coordination during balance and locomotion. We are developing experiments and computational models to understand spatial and temporal features of muscle coordination. We use techniques from neuroscience, biomechanics, kinesiology, signal processing, control systems, physiology, and image processing. This work will allow us to better characterize and model normal and impaired performance of fundamental motor tasks. Our findings influence the development of rehabilitation techniques, neural prosthetics, and neural tissue engineering to improve motor function.
Robert Wood - Harvard University (Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
Prof. Wood's research is primarily in the following areas:
-Microrobotics (aerial, ambulatory, and aquatic)
-Micro air vehicle (MAV) development
-Unmanned air vehicle (UAV) control
-Biomimetic systems
-Composite materials for microrobotic applications
-Surgical robotics
-Sensors and actuators
These areas are symbiotic with each other and create a body of research which is inherently multi-disciplinary, drawing from Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Material Science, Computer Science, and Biology.