Past Events

Topic: Advances in Surgical Robotics 

Abstract: Surgical Robots have seen widespread adoption, registering one of the fastest adoption rates of a novel technology in the history of medicine.  Some long-standing challenges in surgery are now open to more quantitative methods that promise novel solutions: the prevalence of fatal errors, accessing currently inoperable anatomy,  or prohibitive delays in treating emergency cases far from treatment centers.  This talk will survey some past and ongoing projects that may have opportunities to get involved.  

Bio: Dr. Kowalewski completed a PhD in electrical engineering at the University of Washington Biorobotics lab on the topic of quantifying surgical skill and served as a research scientist at DARPA’s “Traumapod: Operating Room of the Future” project.  Recognized with a ‘best doctoral candidate award’ at the American College of Surgeons AEI Consortium on SurgicalRobotics and Simulation, he commercialized his PhD work for quantitative skill evaluation and co-pioneered the use of crowdsourcing for high-volume assessment of surgical skills.  Based on this research, he co-founded CSATS Inc. which has enabled surgical skill assessment and improvement throughout the United States (acquired by Johnson & Johnson in April 2018).  He is a recipient of an NSF CAREER award and a McKnight Presidential Fellow and is funded by the NSF, NIH, DOD Army Futures Command, and industry.  He is currently an associate professor in mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota with adjunct appointments in biomedical engineering and electrical and computer engineering and is an affiliate associate professor in surgical simulation science at the University of Washington, Seattle. He recently co-founded Lightside Surgical in Seattle, WA with Dr. Jeff Berkeley, formerly of Mimic Technologies, to help deliver “critical care anywhere” using simulation science and telerobotics.  

Title: Path Planning for Ground-Air Robot Teams with Energy Sharing

Abstract: The Army is researching path-planning for teams of ground robots and drones in the context of long-endurance autonomous surveillance missions. Unmanned ground and air vehicles have complementary strengths, namely long battery life in the ground vehicles and maneuverability in the air vehicles. Recent subsystem innovations allow the air vehicles to track their own energy levels and autonomously dock and recharge on the ground vehicles. This allows the team to operate for 8+ hours autonomously, but adds complexity to team path planning, which we solve using multiple approaches from greedy solvers to reinforcement learning. In this talk, we will share the problem formulation, simulation, algorithms, and results of recent outdoor experimentation.

 Bio: James Humann is a Mechanical Engineer with the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL). His research is focused on design, simulation, and control of multirobot systems. He received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and an MS and PhD from the University of Southern California, with an emphasis in mechanical design and systems engineering. He recently relocated to Minneapolis to collaborate with researchers at the University of Minnesota. His most recent work includes path planning for energy-sharing teams of ground and air robots in a persistent surveillance mission. He oversees academic collaborators’ development of path planning algorithms, and brings their work in-house at ARL by developing simulations and an API for their solvers as a bridge to ARL robotics stack. 

Talk: Building a Robot: A Journey to Production

Abstract: Robots are hard. The journey to create Toro’s Haven robotic lawnmower was no exception. This talk will provide an overview of how Toro developed a robotic lawnmower from conception to production, highlighting key technology differentiators as well as the different product development processes. Learn pitfalls to avoid and what a commercial company looks for in a finished robotic product.

 Alexander Frick, P.E., Sr Engineering Manager, TTC Robotics, The Toro Company

Alex began his career at The Toro Company through the U of MN Mechanical Engineering Co-op in 2005. After earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2006, he worked as a Test Engineer, leading electronics testing and helping create Toro’s hardware-in-the-loop SW test group. In 2012, Alex transitioned to design, launching the Groundsmaster 4000 in 2014. He then joined advanced R&D, where he shifted his focus to hybrid systems and robotics. He completed his MS MOT in 2021, led the launch of Toro’s Haven robotic lawnmower, and now focuses on future robotic technologies for Toro. He holds over ten US patents, with several more pending.

Title: "Biofabrication: The Long and Winding Road"

Abstract: Lab's efforts to create muscle-based tissues with complex geometry using novel wet-spinning and robotics approaches.

Bio: Dr. Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari is Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cell Therapy, and Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary. Allergy Critical Care and Sleep. She was originally trained as an Immunologist with post-doctoral training in Pathology, and is board-certified by the American Board of Medical Laboratory Immunology. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering (AIMBE). After over 25 years of experience in animal models of stem cell transplant, her research has evolved into the tissue engineering field. Her current research team focuses upon 2 major themes: 1) bioengineering tissues such as lung, trachea and esophagus using 3D bioprinting, robotics, and customized hydrogels and bioreactors; 2) 3D bioprinting of cancer models. Her goal is to realize the potential of regenerative medicine by converging the fields of stem cell biology, mechanical & biomedical engineering, biomaterials, physiology and surgery to bioengineer autologous tissues/organs for transplant using a patient's own cells that would not be rejected by their immune system.

Dr. Panoskaltsis-Mortari established and directs the 3D Bioprinting Facility at the University of Minnesota, and developed the first full-semester course in the country dedicated to 3D Bioprinting and how it interfaces with other fields. She also directs the UMN Cytokine Reference Laboratory (a CLIA-licensed facility). Her lab is federally and philanthropically funded, and she has mentored many faculty, post-docs, MD trainees, graduate students and undergrads in various training programs.

TBD

Title: RECOVER – Development and Translation of Rehabilitation Technologies to Promote Activities and Participation of Veterans

Abstract: The Rehabilitation & Engineering Center for Optimizing Veteran Engagement & Reintegration (RECOVER) is a new VA-funded Rehabilitation Research Development and Translation Center at the Minneapolis VA that includes faculty from the University of Minnesota. An interdisciplinary team of clinicians, engineers, and other support staff at RECOVER work together to invent, develop, and commercialize new technologies that promote participation of Veterans in important life activities and events after amputations or spinal cord injuries. Several products will be presented including prosthetic ankle-foot systems, wheelchairs, and exercise equipment. Practical considerations in product development will also be shared including considerations for reimbursement and industry collaboration.

Bio: Andrew Hansen grew up on a farm in northern Iowa. After high school, he went on to earn degrees in biomedical engineering from the University of Iowa (BSE in 1995) and Northwestern University (MS in 1998, PhD in 2002). Andrew has worked for the VA since 2006, and at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System since 2009. His research and development interests are broad and include development and evaluation of rehabilitation technologies for Veterans with amputations and Veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders. Andrew is the Director of RECOVER and a Research Biomedical Engineer at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System. He is also a Professor of Rehabilitation Science and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota.

Title: Enhancing Healthcare Operations with Robotics: Insights from Mayo Clinic

Abstract: As healthcare systems grow in complexity, the demand for innovative solutions to support clinical and operational quality and efficiency grows in step. This talk, presented by John Angeli and Corey Johnson from the Division of Engineering at Mayo Clinic, will cover some ongoing efforts at Mayo to integrate robotics and automation to reimagine care and elevate patient experience and outcomes while reducing work burden for staff. The presentation will include use cases of robotics solutions implemented at Mayo Clinic. These examples will illustrate some of the associated challenges, including integrating into hospital workflows, development and deployment, and measuring impact. This session aims to inspire collaboration between healthcare and robotics communities by showcasing how engineering innovation can transform clinical support systems.

Presenters: John Angeli and Corey Johnson

Bios:

John Angeli is an engineering manager, educator, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience. He leads the Biomechanical Shop at Mayo Clinic. John holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering and specializes in hands-on prototyping, product development, and manufacturing process optimization.

Corey has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering as well as minors in biology, chemistry, and mathematics. He has industry experience in chemical engineering, aviation hardware design, and medical devices. Most of his professional experience has been devoted to medical device development, especially orthopedics, including spine and trauma applications. At Mayo Clinic, Corey has the opportunity to work with innovative clinicians in all practice areas to develop new technologies and devices to improve patient care and clinical practice.

Title: Robotics for Multi-scale biological interfacing

Abstract: Computations in the brain that mediate behavior occur across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Information is integrated within single cells, which are interconnected in dense local circuits, and these circuits are further incorporated into larger networks spanning many brain regions. A critical challenge for modern neuroscience is to study the brain across these multiple scales without losing signal fidelity or information. Traditionally, modalities used to observe activity at one level do not scale effectively to the next level. Research in my laboratory focuses on developing robotic systems that help neuroscientists and biologists bridge these experimental scales. In the first part of the talk, I will describe how robotic systems can automate precise and delicate laboratory procedures such as patch clamping and microinjection to record and manipulate single cells in tissue at high throughput. These simple vision-guided micromanipulator robots enable genetic barcode tagging of single neurons in the brain, as well as tagging of stem cells in developing embryos and genomic editing of whole intact organisms. Next, I will discuss how we use computer vision-guided robots to automate precise microsurgery procedures in preclinical rodent models for implanting brain-wide neural imaging devices. Finally, I will describe work from our lab developing exoskeletons for mice, designed to help neuroscientists gather large-scale neural imaging datasets from animals performing complex behavioral tasks.

Bio: Dr. Kodandaramaiah is Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He currently serves as the Director of Student Research and Recruitment for the ME department. He obtained a bachelor’s degree from Visveswaraya Technological University in India, a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and PhD from Georgia Institute of Technology, all in Mechanical Engineering. He then completed post-doctoral training in Dr. Edward Boyden’s laboratory in the Media Lab and McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research is at the intersection of robotics, precision engineering and neuroscience and is broadly focused on engineering and applying novel technologies to interface with and understand brains in action. In 2010, his work was awarded the R. V. Jones Memorial Award by the American Society for Precision Engineering. In 2012, Dr. Kodandaramaiah was recognized by Forbes magazine's 30 under 30 list of rising researchers in science and healthcare. He held the position of Mcknight Land-Grant Professor at the University of Minnesota between 2020 and 2022. He is also a recipient of the McKnight Foundation’s 2021 award for technological innovations in neuroscience. In 2023, Dr. Kodandaramaiah co-founded and serves as the CTO of Objective Biotechnology Inc., a UMN spin-off that is commercializing technologies developed in his laboratory. 

Title: Learning the Input/Output Structure of a Network from Data

Abstract: Networks have become ubiquitous in science. Interconnected systems are successfully leveraged to develop novel modeling approaches in various fields, including Economics, Biology, Cognitive Sciences, Ecology, and Geology. While networks of dynamical systems have been deeply studied and analyzed in physics and engineering, there is a reduced number of results addressing the problem of reconstructing an unknown network of dynamic systems, since it poses formidable theoretical and practical challenges. One of the main challenges is the identification of networked systems that are difficult to access or manipulate. Thus, the necessity for general tools for the identification of networks that are known only via non-invasive observation is rapidly emerging. The talk addresses this problem under several scenarios, attempting to form a picture as comprehensive and general as possible.

Bio: Donatello Materassi holds a Laurea in "Ingegneria Informatica" and a "Dottorato di Ricerca" in Nonlinear Dynamics and Complex Systems from Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy. He has been a research associate at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) from 2008 to 2011. He has been concurrently both a post-doctoral researcher at Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a lecturer at Harvard University till 2014. Since 2014 he has been an assistant professor at University of Tennessee in Knoxville and since 2021 he is an associate professor at University of Minnesota in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. In 2016, he was a recipient of the NSF CAREER award. His main research interests are graphical models, stochastic systems, and cybernetics.

Are you ready to take your passion for robotics to the next level? We invite you to join us for an exclusive information session about our Master in Robotics program!

Event Details:

• Date: September 26, 2026
• Time: 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM (Central Time)
• Location: Online via Zoom 

This session will provide you with an overview of our cutting-edge program, admissions process, curriculum, and opportunities for research and hands-on learning in the exciting field of robotics. You’ll also have the chance to ask questions and hear directly from faculty and current students.

Whether you're considering applying for the upcoming academic year or simply exploring your options, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more and connect with our admissions team.

We look forward to meeting you and sharing more about how our Master in Robotics program can help you build the future of technology!