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The Latest CRB News

PhD Student Tommy Berrueta Chosen as a Presenter for the Future Leaders in Robotics and AI Seminar Series

February 2024   The Future Leaders in Robotics and AI: Celebrating Diversity and Innovation Seminar Series is part of the University of Maryland and Microsoft Robotics and Diversity Initiative, sponsored by Microsoft DC Metro Engineering Site.

from Maryland Robotics Center

Accelerating the Accessibility and Safety of Power Wheelchairs

December 2023   A multidisciplinary team led by Professor Brenna Argall received a Phase 2 NSF Convergence Accelerator award.

from Northwestern Engineering

Ryan Truby Receives DARPA Young Faculty Award

October 2023   The DARPA program provides funding, mentoring, and industry and DoD contacts to awardees early in their careers to help them develop their research ideas in the context of national security needs. Truby's Robotic Matter Lab will receive a two-year award of $500,000.

from Northwestern Engineering

Instant Evolution: AI Designs New Robot From Scratch in Seconds

October 2023   A team led by Sam Kriegman and Northwestern University researchers has developed the first artificial intelligence (AI) to date that can intelligently design robots from scratch.

from Northwestern Now

Brains & Machines: A Podcast About Neuromorphic Engineering and Bio-inspired Technology

September 2023   Mitra Hartmann discusses how modelling rat whiskers can make us better both at understanding the brain and building technology, and why she finds the neuromorphic engineering community so intellectually rewarding.

PhD Student Mahdieh Nejati Javaremi Chosen as an RSS Pioneer

September 2023   The workshop program committee selected the 30 member cohort based on research excellence and potential for furthering the field of robotics research either in industry or academia.

Sam Kriegman Named Schmidt Futures 2050 Early Career Fellow

August 2023   Northwestern Engineering’s Sam Kriegman is among the inaugural cohort of Schmidt Futures 2050 Early Career Fellows, selected to solve hard problems in artificial intelligence (AI) through bold and ambitious multidisciplinary research.

from Northwestern Engineering

Kevin Lynch to Retire as Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Robotics

June 2023   Lynch will have overseen the production of 30 issues of T-RO. Among its other achievements under his leadership, T-RO has nearly doubled its submissions, which are up 90% from when Lynch took over.

How Will AI Help Humans with Mobility?

May 2023   A podcast by Solve It For Kids with Brenna Argall from the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab.

Brenna Argall Inducted into the AIMBE College of Fellows

April 2023   AIMBE fellows represent the top 2 percent of medical and biological engineers in academia, industry, education, clinical practice, and government.

from Northwestern Engineering

Society of Women Engineers Hosts 2023 Career Day for Girls

March 2023   Around 70 Chicago-area Middle School and High School Students Visited Campus as Part of the February 25 Event

from Northwestern Engineering

Muscle-powered Robots Have Freedom of Movement

February 2023   First, they walked. Then, they saw the light. Now, miniature biological robots have gained a new trick: remote control. Microelectronics give researchers remote control over biological robots.

from Northwestern Engineering

Ryan Truby and Sam Kriegman Receive CESR Seed Funding Award for Sustainable Design and Fabrication of Intelligent Robots

January 2023   This seed grant will be cultivated in the rich soil of the Center for Robotics and Biosystems and grow over the next year and a half into the preliminary results needed for external proposals on the topic of sustainable robotics.

Accelerating the Accessibility and Utility of Power Wheelchairs

December 2022   A multidisciplinary team led by Professor Brenna Argall received a Phase 1 NSF Convergence Accelerator award.

from Northwestern Engineering

The Future of Human-Robot Interaction Is Mobile

December 2022   More than 25 years after Northwestern Engineering researchers advanced the concept of collaborative robotics, researchers in the Center for Robotics and Biosystems have designed team-based, mobile “mocobots” that could signal a new era of human-robot interaction in construction, manufacturing, and space exploration.

from Northwestern Engineering

Chemistry Flexes Robotic Arm Without Electronics

October 2022   Popping chemical bubbles can power arm movements in microrobots.

from Northwestern Now

Northwestern Engineering Names Winners of 2022 Cole-Higgins Awards

September 2022   Five members of the Northwestern Engineering community have received the school’s annual awards for outstanding teaching and advising.

from Northwestern Engineering

Answering How to Collect Data for Machine Learning

August 2022   People frequently hear how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies are going to change the world. What they don’t hear as often is how most of what’s learned uses data provided by the general public, and how much data the scientific community actually has. Recent work from Northwestern Engineering researchers could provide some answers.

from Northwestern Engineering

PhD Student Ola Kalinowska Chosen a Cyber-Physical Systems Rising Star

June 2022   CPS Rising Stars recognizes outstanding PhD students and postdocs who are interested in pursuing academic careers in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) related areas.

Design Studio Students Show Off High-Performance Robots

June 2022   Three teams from ME 472: Robot Design Studio built robotic systems with a focus on haptics Robots.

from Northwestern Engineering

Thomas Berrueta Receives the Prestigious Presidential Fellowship Award

June 2022   The Presidential Fellowship award is the most prestigious fellowship awarded by Northwestern.

from Northwestern Engineering

Tiny Robotic Crab is Smallest-ever Remote-controlled Walking Robot

June 2022   Smaller than a flea, robot can walk, bend, twist, turn, and jump.

from Northwestern Engineering

Jian Cao Elected to National Academy of Engineering

February 2022   Cao is being honored by the NAE for her outstanding contributions to pioneering a flexible sheet forming system and leadership in manufacturing. Congratulations!

from Northwestern Engineering

John Rogers Honored by National Academy of Sciences

February 2022   Rogers was selected for his development of ‘biocompatible’ forms of electronic, optoelectronic, and microfluidic technologies with unique capabilities in basic science research and clinical care.

from Northwestern Engineering

Todd Murphey Appointed IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Vice President of Publication Activities

February 2022   Murphey now oversees all publications of the Robotics and Automation Society.

CRB Members and Former Student Receive the 2021 IEEE Control Systems Magazine Outstanding Paper Award

February 2022   The paper "Tutorial on Dynamic Average Consensus: The Problem, Its Applications, and the Algorithms," wins prestigious award.

Kevin Lynch Receives the George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation

January 2022   Lynch received the award in May 2022 for his "exceptional leadership" in the Robotics and Automation community.

Ryan Truby Receives Air Force Young Investigator Research Program Award

November 2021   Truby is one of 36 chosen from over 175 applicants to receive the 2022 award.

from Northwestern Engineering

New Holographic Camera Sees the Unseen with High Precision

November 2021   New Holographic Camera Sees the Unseen with High Precision.

from Northwestern Engineering

Petras Swissler and Michael Rubenstein Win the 2021 International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems Best Student Paper Award

June 2021   A paper by Petras Swissler and Michael Rubenstein was awarded the Best Student Paper Award for the 2021 International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems.

Brenna Argall Featured on "Mission Unstoppable"

March 2021   Argall is designing the next generation of medical assistive devices.

from Northwestern Engineering

Prof. J. Edward Colgate Elected to National Academy of Engineering

February 2021   Colgate is being recognized by the NAE for his outstanding contributions to haptics and human-robot systems, entrepreneurship, and leadership in design education. Congratulations!

from Northwestern Engineering

Papers accepted for IROS 2020

July 2020   Several papers were accepted from the Center for the upcoming IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in Las Vegas, USA, in October 2020.

Ian Abraham and Todd Murphey Win the 2019 Best Paper Award for the IEEE Transactions on Robotics

March 2020   A paper by Ian Abraham and Todd Murphey was awarded the 2019 King-Sun Fu Award for the IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

Brenna Argall's Lab Featured in IndustryWeek

March 2020   Prof. Argall's progress toward semi-autonomous wheelchairs is the topic of a recent story in IndustryWeek.

CRB-led Workshop Accepted for RSS 2020

March 2020   A workshop on the topic of "AI & Its Alternatives in Assistive & Collaborative Robotics: Decoding Intent" has been accepted for RSS 2020.

Northwestern Engineering and CBS News cover a novel swarm shape formation algorithm developed at the CRB

February 2020   Swarming Robots Avoid Collisions, Traffic Jams: New algorithm could help control driverless cars, automated warehouses

Kevin Lynch to receive IEEE Robotics and Automation Society award

February 2020   Center director Kevin Lynch will be awarded the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society's Distinguished Service Award.

Jian Cao and Kevin Lynch envision manufacturing 50 years into the future

February 2020   Profs. Jian Cao and Kevin Lynch pen an opinion piece for IndustryWeek

Robotics Tomorrow published a Q&A with center director Kevin Lynch

February 2020   Robotics Tomorrow published a Q&A with center director Kevin Lynch on research and education at the Center for Robotics and Biosystems.

from Robotics Tomorrow

The Robot Report wrote a feature on research in the center

February 2020   The Robot Report wrote a feature on research in the Center for Robotics and Biosystems.

from The Robot Report

Papers accepted for ICRA 2020

January 2020   Several papers were accepted from the Center for the upcoming IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Paris, France, in June 2020.

New Center for Robotics and Biosystems Launches

December 2019   More than 100 faculty, students, and industry professionals came together on December 3 to consider “Our Future with Robots,” the launch event for Northwestern Engineering’s Center for Robotics and Biosystems.

Zack Woodruff is featured in a New York Times article on rock climbing

November 2019   Zack Woodruff is featured in a New York Times article on rock climbing.

Taosha Fan Wins Best Student Paper at International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems

November 2019   Taosha Fan, PhD student at the Center for Robotics and Biosystems, wins the best student paper at one of the two largest annual conferences in robotics.

Shape-shifting Robot Built from ‘Smarticles’ Shows New Locomotion Strategy

September 2019   “Smarticles” robot built entirely from smaller robots.

from Northwestern Engineering

New Algorithms Discover Networks Within Systems

August 2019   Research could have implications in swarm robotics and many other fields.

from Northwestern Engineering

Brenna Argall to Participate in Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

July 2019   Argall is among 82 young engineers selected by the NAE.

from Northwestern Engineering

NxR students attend Robotics: Science and Systems conference

June 2019   NxR students traveled to Europe to attend the Robotics: Science and Systems conference in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.

Advancing Research through the Robot Design Studio

June 2019   Students create two robots to advance work of mechanical engineering faculty.

from Northwestern Engineering

Professor Mitra Hartmann receives University Teaching Award

May 2019   On May 14th, Mitra Harmann will receive the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence Award for outstanding performance and dedication to undergraduate education at Northwestern University.

from Northwestern Engineering

Todd Murphey Appointed to Air Force Scientific Advisory Board

April 2019   Murphey will advise on engineering and technology matters related to the Air Force mission.

from Northwestern Engineering

NxR students awarded national fellowships

April 2019   Congratulations to NxR graduate students Chris Miller and Milli Schlafly, who have been award the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Chris was also awarded the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.

MacIver featured on Sean Carroll's Mindscape Podcast

March 2019   Professor Malcolm MacIver has been featured on Sean Carroll's Mindscape Podcast.

NxR student attending 2018 Hand Brain Technology Conference

August 2018   Graduate student Rebecca Fenton Friesen is attending the Hand Brain Technology Conference in Ascona, Switzerland, August 26-31. She'll be presenting her work investigating tactile pitch perception of surface textures using haptic displays.

"Modern Robotics" MOOC now available on Coursera

July 2018   "Modern Robotics: Mechanics, Planning, and Control," Kevin Lynch and Frank Park (Cambridge University Press 2017), is now available as a MOOC (massive open online course) specialization on Coursera!

Several NxR students awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

July 2018   Congratulations to NxR graduate students Ana Pervan and Kyra Rudy, who have been awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Congratulations also to NxR graduate student Tito Fernandez, who received honorable mention.

MS in Robotics Projects Featured in ROS 10 Year Montage Video

December 2017   Open Robotics (formerly the Open Source Robotics Foundation) just released a montage video showcasing a variety of robotics projects that have been built on the Robot Operating System (ROS).

Professor Kevin Lynch Receives Harashima Award

October 2017   Kevin Lynch has received the 2017 IROS Harashima Award for Innovative Technologies, awarded by the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

from Northwestern Engineering

New Textbook Examines Modern Robotics

September 2017   Free to download, the textbook also includes video lessons and accompanying software.

from Northwestern Engineering

NxR's Malcolm MacIver interviewed on PBS show "SciTechNow"

August 2017   Professor Malcolm MacIver was interviewed on the recent PNAS study on why our fish ancestors made the leap on to land 385 million years ago. The interview was for the PBS science and technology show SciTechNow and was conducted by Hari Sreenivasan.

Researchers Discuss the Future of Bio-Integrated Technology

May 2017   “The Networked Body” took place Tuesday, May 16.

from Northwestern Engineering

Prof. MacIver Participates in Public Panel on Future of AI

April 2017   MacIver spoke on the impact of AI on the future of work, potential benefits of AI, and how art goes beyond reflecting developments in AI to participate in shaping its trajectory.

Peshkin Receives National Educator Award from ASEE

April 2017   Ralph Coats Roe Award recognizes outstanding teachers in mechanical engineering.

from Northwestern Engineering

NSF Profiles Recent Work in Prof. Todd Murphey's Lab

April 2017   Today, the National Science Foundation released a new article and corresponding video in the Science Nation online magazine that focuses on recent work in Prof. Todd Murphey's lab.

Teaching Robots to Adapt to Human Unpredictability

April 2017   NSF’s Science Nation showcases Professors Todd Murphey and Julius Dewald’s work to develop more helpful robots.

from Northwestern Engineering

The Eyes Have It

April 2017   Professor Malcolm MacIver and collaborators studied the fossil record and discovered that fish eyes nearly tripled in size before the creatures made the water-to-land transition.

from Northwestern Engineering

NxR's MacIver, Mugan, and Murphey publish discovery that vision led our fish-like ancestors to land, not limbs

March 2017   In a new PNAS study, NxR's Malcolm MacIver, Ugurcan Mugan, and Todd Murphey show that eyes greatly increased in size just prior to vertebrates coming out of water to live on land, nearly 400 million years ago. The study has implications both for how and why our vertebrate ancestors came on to land, as well as for the evolution of complex cognitive abilities.

New NxR Publication Garnering Significant Social Media Attention

February 2017   A new Perspective in the journal Neuron by NxR faculty Malcolm MacIver and co-authors, entitled "Neuroscience Needs Behavior: Correcting a Reductionist Bias", has touched a nerve in social media, garnering 900 tweets reaching an upper bound of one million followers since its publication on Feb 8.

Article by Prof. Hartmann and Students Draws Global Media Interest

October 2016   A study by Yu, Graff, Bresee, Man and Professor Hartmann, published in the journal Science Advances and featured as a graphic highlight on the journal’s website, was widely reported on in the popular science media both domestically and internationally.

New Robotics Textbook Published Online by Prof. Lynch

October 2016   The robotics intro textbook is now published online.

Brenna Argall’s Plans for an Autonomous Wheelchair Profiled in Crain’s

August 2016   Smart wheelchair can adapt its actions based off of instruction.

from Northwestern Engineering

20 Years Later: Cobots Co-opt Assembly Lines

August 2016   Northwestern team collaborated with GM to create a new type of robot.

from Northwestern Engineering

Rat Whiskers Shed Light on How Neurons Communicate Touch

August 2016   Researchers find that whisker sensory neurons mainly encode mechanical information.

from Northwestern Engineering

Professor Malcolm MacIver Featured on Reddit - PLOS Science Wednesday

May 2016   NxR professor Malcolm MacIver will be hosting a Reddit “Ask Us Anything” session at 1 pm ET May 4, 2016.

Brenna Argall Receives CAREER Award

March 2016   The five-year, $525,000 grant will help people with a wide variety of disabilities who can benefit from robotic devices.

from Northwestern Engineering

Faculty Publish New Mechatronics Textbook

February 2016   Based on the ME 333 curriculum, the book is augmented by instructional videos.

from Northwestern Engineering

Northwestern Engineering Names Winners of 2015 Cole-Higgins Awards

December 2015   Todd Murphey and Igal Szleifer win this year’s awards.

from Northwestern Engineering

Engineering Touch

December 2015   Researchers are incorporating touch into robotics.

from Northwestern Engineering

Gantz, Colgate, and Peshkin to Enter Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame

October 2015   Members of Northwestern Engineering community will be recognized in part for helping launch Northwestern startups.

from Northwestern Engineering

Connoisseurs of Touch

September 2015   Northwestern Engineering researchers break through the touchscreen technology, putting tactile information at users' fingertips. Literally.

from Northwestern Engineering

Diverse Sea Creatures Evolved to Reach Same Swimming Solution

April 2015   Elongated fins use same mechanical motion to optimize speed across eight animal groups.

from Northwestern Engineering

Robot Block Party this Weekend

April 2015   Robotics experts to demonstrate their creations at Museum of Science and Industry.

from Northwestern Engineering

McCormick Professors Inducted into NAI

March 2015   Mechanical engineering professors J. Edward Colgate and Michael Peshkin received the high professional honor.

from Northwestern Engineering

Bringing Texture to Your Flat Touchscreen

February 2015   Model of ‘virtual bumps’ could lead to feeling a keyboard on your touchscreen.

from Northwestern Engineering

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