Announcing the Winners of the 2016 Annual Soft Robotics Competitions

Through numerous interdisciplinary projects and collaborations, Dr. Galloway has built a multidisciplinary background that has grown to include mechanical design, materials science, advanced manufacturing, bioinspired design, human-centered design, robotics and medical devices. His current research interests include new approaches to design, rapid prototyping from the micro- to the macro-scale, active soft materials, and the manufacture and control of wearable robotic devices. Prior to joining Vanderbilt, Kevin worked closely with the Harvard Microrobotics Lab led by Prof. Rob Wood and the Harvard Biodesign Lab led by Prof. Conor Walsh to build an internationally recognized soft robotics platform and has held several PI/Co-PI roles.

Dr. Rebecca Kramer founded The Faboratory in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University in 2013. She is the recipient of a NSF CAREER Award, NASA ECF Award, AFOSR YIP Award, and was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2015. Her research interests include soft robotics, stretchable electronics, responsive material actuators, soft material manufacturing, and soft-bodied control.

Dr. Mengüç works at the interface of mechanical science and robotics, creating soft devices inspired by nature and applied to robotics. During his doctoral work at Carnegie Mellon he developed micro-scale robotic manipulators exploiting controllable adhesion and a self-cleaning adhesive that equaled the gecko’s toe in stickiness. Prior to joining the School of MIME, Dr. Mengüç was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, where he lead the development of hyper-elastic sensors for wearable motion tracking and soft robotics.

Dr O'Cearbhaill obtained his BE (Biomedical) and PhD from NUI-Galway. His doctorate focused on applying mechanical stimulation to MSCs for vascular tissue engineering applications. Subsequently, he worked for Veryan Medical, before joining Creganna-Tactx, where he worked in both manufacturing and design service roles, helping to establish their Specialty Needles Division in Marlborough, MA. Prior to joining UCD, Dr. O'Cearbhaill was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School (Harvard-MIT Health Sciences & Technology Division; Dept. of Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital), where his research focused on the conception and development of medical devices and the delivery of next generation therapeutics in the laboratory of Prof. Jeffrey Karp. Dr O'Cearbhaill's interests include medical device innovation, design and commercialization (including minimally invasive devices and delivery systems), cell biomechanics, bioreactor design & tissue engineering, organ-on-chip and lab-on-a-chip systems.

Dr. Jaime Paik is an Assistant Professor at the EPFL, in the Institute of Mechanical Engineering. During a post-doc at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, she designed and built a surgical instrument, the JAiMY, which is used for suturing in laparoscopic surgery. Dr. Paik received her BS and MS degrees from the University of British Columbia (Canada) and her PhD at Seoul National University (South Korea).

Prof. Remy is the head of the Robotics and Motion Laboratory. His research interests include the design, simulation, and control of legged robots, exoskeletons, and other nonlinear systems. Drawing inspiration from biology and biomechanics, he is particularly interested in the effect and exploitation of natural dynamic motions, the role of different gaits, and the possibility of force/torque controllable systems; both in conceptual models and in hardware realizations.

Dr. Roche received her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from NUIGalway, and went on to work in the medical device industry (Mednova, Abbott Vascular and Medtronic) before receiving her MSc in Bioengineering from Trinity College Dublin. She completed her PhD at Harvard University under the guidance of Professor David Mooney in the Mooney Lab and Professor Conor Walsh  in the Harvard Biodesign Lab. To date her research has focused on new approaches to cardiac device design as well as employing biomaterials to improve cell delivery and retention to the heart.

Dr. Adam Stokes is a lecturer in the Institute for Micro and Nano Systems (IMNS) and the Institute for Bioengineering (IBioE), at The University of Edinburgh. His research interests include: robotics, physical chemistry, electrical engineering, materials science, nanotechnology, optics, proteomics, and cell biology. He holds degrees in engineering, biomedical science, and chemistry. Dr. Stokes holds a prestigious appointment as a Member of The Royal Society of Edinburgh's Young Academy. Dr Stokes is PI of the Stokes Research Group, an interdisciplinary research laboratory at The University of Edinburgh.

Carl Vause
Chief Executive Officer
Soft Robotics, Inc.

Carl Vause is CEO of Soft Robotics Inc. with a wealth of experience holding a variety of senior positions in technology and medical device companies, most recently Vice President of Marketing at OmniGuide Surgical. Mr. Vause holds a M.B.A from London Business School and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute.