Prof. David Braun
My research is centered on the foundations of robotics, with an emphasis on the dynamics, control, and design of mechanically adaptive robots. The research conducted in my Laboratory has been disseminated in top academic journals in the fields of robotics (IEEE Transactions on Robotics), control (Automatica), biomechanics (IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems & Rehabilitation Engineering), physics (APS Physical Review Letters), other multidisciplinary science journals (AAAS Science Advances), and was featured by several news outlets, including The Conversation US, The Guardian UK, Die Welt Germany, The Next Big Future, among others.
I received the IEEE King-Sun Fu Transactions on Robotics Memorial Best Paper Award in 2014 and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2022. I was a Scientific Program Co-Chair of the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, Area Chair of the 2018 Robotics: Science and Systems Conference, Associate Editor of the 2019-2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, and Editor for the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics.
I received a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University in 2009. From 2010 to 2013, I was a postdoctoral research fellow with the Statistical Machine Learning and Motor Control Group at the University of Edinburgh, and a visiting researcher with the Institute for Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Center. In 2014, I joined Singapore University of Technology and Design as a founding faculty member. In 2019, I moved to Vanderbilt as an Assistant Professor of mechanical engineering, with a secondary appointment in computer engineering.
Postdocs and Students
Beau Johnson
Beau is a postdoctoral researcher at the Braun Lab working on variable stiffness human augmentation devices. Beau received his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt, studying under Dr. Michael Goldfarb. His research interests include the design and control of assistive and augmentative devices with an emphasis on lower limb prostheses and exoskeletons. His works include the design and […]
Ali Kilic
Ali Kilic is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2021 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He received the 2021 Dynamics & Controls Award presented to an outstanding student showing the most promise in the study and pursuit of dynamics and controls engineering at Vanderbilt University. […]
Ashley Fu
Ashley is an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt studying Electrical & Computer Engineering, with a minor in piano performance. She is also a member of the SyBBURE Searle Undergraduate Research Program.
Benjamin Racape
Ben is an undergraduate mechanical engineering student at Vanderbilt University from Wilmington Delaware seeking to apply foundational knowledge in robotics and dynamics to challenging complex problems.
Jack Abrams
Jack is an undergraduate student in mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University. He likes to do research related to dynamics, control, and robotics. He has held multiple internships in the renewable energy industry for NextEra Energy and is interested in pursuing a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering post-graduation.
Kaijia Chen
Kaijia is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science. He is passionate about research and has been involved with numerous research projects related to robotics. He possesses a strong penchant for road trips and is ambitiously endeavoring to explore all 50 states prior to graduation.
Christin Sanchez
Christin is an undergraduate student in computer science at the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt University and a part of the SyBBURE Searle Undergraduate Program. She is passionate about research and likes math and programming. Outside of research and school, she enjoys running, drawing, and reading.
George Dzadzamia
Hello, I’m George Dzadzamia from Georgia, studying Physics and Computer Science at Vanderbilt University. My research interests have recently expanded to include nonlinear optics and nanoparticles, in addition to my ongoing work with non-linear parametric oscillators. Outside of my academic and research activities, I enjoy playing strategy board games, exploring the fantasy world of ‘The […]
Jordyn Heil
Jordyn is an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University studying Electrical & Computer Engineering and Mathematics with minors in Computer Science, Physics, and Economics. He is also a member of the SyBBURE Searle Undergraduate Research Program. His passion for the intersection of software and hardware, coupled with a love for solving complex physics problems, aligns seamlessly with […]
Alumni
Vincent Chalvet
Vincent Chalvet was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Braun Lab at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Vincent obtained his Engineering Diploma in Mechatronics from the National Engineering Institute of France in 2008, and the Ph.D. degree in Automatic Control from the University of Franche-Comté in 2013. Prior to joining SUTD, he was a […]
Farnaz Adib Yaghmaie
Farnaz Adib Yaghmaie was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Braun Lab at Technology and Design. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering-Control at K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 2009 and 2011, respectively. Subsequently, she received her Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) at Nanyang (NTU) Technological […]
Cole A. Dempsey
Cole earned his M.S. degree in mechanical engineering while working in the Braun Lab at Vanderbilt University. He graduated from the University of Nebraska with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.
Amanda Sutrisno
Amanda earned her M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University in 2023 while working in the Braun Lab. Amanda graduated from Singapore University of Technology and Design in 2016 with a B.S. in engineering product development.
Yuqing Chen
Yuqing earned his Ph.D. in 2019 while working in the Braun Lab at Singapore University of Technology and Design. He is currently a lecturer in the Department of Mechatronics and Robotics at the Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China.
Evrim Selin Altinkaynak
Evrim earned her Ph.D. in 2019 while working in the Braun Lab at Singapore University of Technology and Design. Upon graduation, Evrim worked at iWALK and is currently a lecturer at Clemson University.
Chase W. Mathews
Chase was a Ph.D. student in the Braun Lab at Vanderbilt University. He graduated from Auburn University in 2019 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.
Tiange (T) Zhang
Tiange was a Ph.D. student in Braun Lab at Vanderbilt University. She graduated from the University of Delaware in 2019 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.
Joel (Sung) Kim
Joel was a Ph.D. student in the Braun Lab at Vanderbilt University. He graduated from Rice University in 2019 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.
Isabel Peppard
Isabel Peppard is an undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. She was an undergraduate student researcher at the Braun Lab in 2021.
Chey Sirota
Chey Sirota is an undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. He was a student researcher in the Braun Lab in 2020.
Yangzhi Li
Yangzhi Li was a Ph.D. student in the Braun Lab at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). He is pursuing a joint Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at SUTD, advised by Dr. Braun (2018-2019) and Dr. Gim Song Soh, and the National University of Singapore (advised by Dr. Yu Haoyong).
Linfeng Li
Linfeng Li was a research assistant in the Braun Lab at Singapore University of Technology and Design. He was subsequently a researcher with Eureka Robotics in Singapore. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the National University of Singapore.
Lau Hong Fai (Justin)
Lau Hong Fai (Justin) was a research assistant in the Braun Lab at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). He received his B.S. degree in Engineering Product Development from SUTD, where he specialized in Mechanical Engineering, and the M.S. degree from ETH Zürich in Switzerland, where he specialized in Robotics. Currently, Justin is a […]
Aaron Chong
Aaron Chong was a Research Assistant in the Braun Lab at Singapore University of Technology and Design (2015-2017). He received his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Product Development from SUTD where he specialized in Electrical Engineering, and the M.S. degree from The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Aaron is currently a Research Engineer with Open Robotics […]