Graduate student chooses Minnesota—and the College of Science and Engineering for robotics excellence

Adam Imdieke gets to play with robots for his homework

Adam Imdieke, a second-year computer science Ph.D. student, researches how robots interact with objects. He also looks at how robots can detect touch on their body or surfaces through tactile sensing.

Imdieke started at the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering (CSE) as a computer engineering major. It was in a class taught by his current advisor, assistant professor Karthik Desingh, who specializes in robotics and AI, that Imdieke discovered his love for research.

Imdieke, who received the Robert F. Hartmann Scholarship and the Roger Nordby Electrical Engineering Scholarship as an undergrad, then went on to spend a year in the Minnesota Robotics Institute Master’s in Robotics program at the University of Minnesota before transferring to the University's Department of Computer Science and Engineering doctoral program. 

“The best part about my research is that I get to design things that people have never built before,” said Imdieke, who hails from Minneapolis. He also appreciates the collaboration across disciplines that CSE students can tap. Imdieke is working with Brad Holschuh, a professor in the College of Design and co-director of the University of Minnesota's Wearable Technology Lab, to make the tactile sensors for robots.

Imdieke hopes his research will help companies design robots that can assist elderly people both at home and in the hospital. 

To learn more about Imdieke and his research, watch the video below: 

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Story and video by Henry Stafford.