Our Team
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Principal Investigators
J. Edward Colgate
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Breed Senior Professor of Design
Education:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Ph. D., Mechanical Engineering, 1988
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: S.M., Mechanical Engineering, 1986
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: S.B., Physics, 1983
Email Address: colgate@northwestern.edu
Michael A. Peshkin
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Breed Senior Professor of Design
Education:
- Ph.D. Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1987
- M.S. Experimental Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1984
- B.A. Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 1979
Email Address: peshkin@northwestern.edu
Staff & Postdocs
Toby Buckley
Research Engineer
Education:
- Stanford University, M.S. Aeronautics & Astronautics, 2017
- Michigan State University, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2015
Email Address: toby.buckley@northwestern.edu
Kevin Nella
Research Engineer
Education:
- Northwestern University, M.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2023
- University of Miami, B.S. Biomedical Engineering, 2014
Email Address: kevin.nella@northwestern.edu
Bekir Aksoy
Postdoctoral Fellow
Education:
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, PhD Microelectronics and Microsystems, 2021
- Koc University, M.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2017
- Koc University, B.S. Mechanical Engineering & Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 2014
Email Address: bekir.aksoy@northwestern.edu
Graduate Students
Sylvia Tan
PhD candidate
Education:
- Washington University in St. Louis, M.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2019
- Washington University in St. Louis, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2019
Email Address: sylviatan@u.northwestern.edu
Tom Trzpit
PhD candidate
Education:
- Stanford University, M.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2020
- Stanford University, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2020
Email Address: tomasztrzpit2025@u.northwestern.edu
Rohan Kota
PhD candidate
Education:
- University of Southern California, M.S. Mechanical Engineering 2022
- University of Southern California, B.S. Electrical Engineering 2022
Email Address: rohankota@gmail.com
Luke Batteas
PhD candidate
Education:
- Texas A&M University, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2023
Email Address: lukebatteas2027@u.northwestern.edu
Alyssa Chen
MSc student
Education:
- Northwestern University, M.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2023
- Northwestern University, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2022
Email Address: alyssachen2022@u.northwestern.edu
Ben Forbes
MSc student
Education:
- Northwestern University, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2023
Email Address: benforbes2023@u.northwestern.edu
Undergraduate Students
Gautham Anne
Hi! I’m Gautham, a freshman at Northwestern studying Mechanical Engineering and Physics, with a concentration in Robotics. I’m also pursuing the BS/MS track for Electrical Engineering. I’m interested in control and dynamical systems, the usage of haptics in robotics, and am learning everything I can related to physics and robotics! At NU Haptics Lab, I’m working to develop a 3-axis pin array for finger stimulation.
Email address: gauthamanne2027@u.northwestern.edu
Caroline Terryn
My research interests center around robotics, with a primary focus on control and dynamic systems. I am also interested in the interplay between psychology and robotics—exploring how machines can better understand and interact with human behavior. I am currently working on understanding how to render braille using a wearable haptic device.
Email address: carolineterryn2025@u.northwestern.edu
Alumni
- David Burns, PhD 2023
- Roman V. Grigorii, PhD 2021
- Heng Xu, PhD 2021
- Rebecca Friesen, PhD 2020
- Craig Shultz, PhD 2019
- Joe Mullenbach, PhD 2016
- David Meyer, PhD 2015
- Steven Manuel, PhD 2014
- Michael Wiertlewski, Postdoc 2014
- Mark Salada, PhD 2004
- Carl Moore, PhD 2001
- Etienne Burdet, Postdoc, 1999
- Mike Stanley, PhD 1997
- Zhenyu Liu, MS 2023
- Ray Chen, MS 2022
- Zhisheng Lin, MS 2020
- Yi Zhen, MS 2020
- Sophia Huang, MS 2020
- Evan Li, MS 2020
- Warren Taylor, MS 2020
- Yang Gao, MS 2015
- Ben Richardson, MS 2015
- John Glassmire, MS 2006
- Ade Gordon, MS 2004
- Traveler Hauptman, MS 2001
- Beeling Chang, MS 1994
- Kirsten Laurin-Kovitz, MS 1993
- Keith Anderson, MS 1992
- Ed Kuyper, MS 1992
- Arielle Traub, BS
- Daelan Roosa, BS 2022
- Lisa Zhu, Visiting Student, 2022
- Gus Domel, BS 2014
- Brian Miller, 2000
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