I am a PhD candidate at the Robotics Institute (RI), Carnegie Mellon University since August, 2007. I work with Christopher G. Atkeson on developing soft robots for safe physical interaction with humans. To this end, I am interested in developing a new breed of robots which utilize highly flexible structures unlike most robots today. Such robots offer fundamental advantages in terms of safety thus bringing robots closer to humans than ever before.

A particular focus of my research in soft robotics is the development of inflatable robots. Inflatable robots like the one pictured below are extremely lightweight, compliant and low-cost systems. These features make them highly sutiable for serving as personal robots that physically interact with people.