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Tommaso Ranzani is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and in the Division of Materials Science and Engineering at Boston University. His research focuses on exploring different technologies and developing manufacturing paradigms to design and fabricate innovative robotic systems. His main research area is soft robotics. He has explored soft robotic technologies to develop novel manipulators, which integrate design principles from biological systems to perform advanced procedures in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). He is interested in expanding the potential of soft robots across different scales to develop novel reconfigurable soft-bodied robots.

Prof. Ranzani received a Bachelor’s and Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pisa, Italy. He did his Ph.D. at the BioRobotics Institute of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies under the supervision of Prof. Arianna Menciassi on soft mechatronic devices for MIS, working in the framework of the STIFF-FLOP European project. In 2014, he joined the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as a postdoctoral fellow. He worked in the Harvard Microrobotics Lab (Prof. Robert J. Wood) and the Harvard Biodesign Lab (Prof. Conor Walsh). In his postdoctoral research, he explored advanced manufacturing technologies for novel medical devices. His research focuses on soft meso- and micro-scale reconfigurable robotic devices integrating microfluidic capabilities and exploiting layer-by-layer manufacturing processes.

ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0001-8362-3710

Email: tranzani@bu.edu

Postdoctoral Researchers

Sangyoep Lee (he/him)
Postdoctoral Associate
LinkedIn | Research

Sangyoep’s research interests (noted as Sang-Yoep Lee in publications) focus on developing human-robot interactive systems, where biomechanics, ergonomics, physiology, and rehabilitation medicine intersect. His toolkit includes conventional theories on system analysis and control, traditional and soft robotics, bioinformatics, and mechatronics.He received his B.S. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in Mar. 2014 and Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering (supervised by Prof. Kyu-Jin Cho) in Aug. 2021, both from Seoul National University. He was affiliated with the Soft Robotics Research Center at Seoul National University from Sep. 2021 to Apr. 2023, the d’Arbeloff Lab (Prof. Harry Asada) at MIT from May 2023 to Apr. 2024, and the TTDD Lab (Prof. Ellen Roche) at MIT from May 2023 to Aug. 2024 as a postdoctoral researcher.

Ph.D. Students

Leah T. Gaeta (she/her)
PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering, 4th Year
LinkedIn | Research | Webpage

Leah’s research interests include actuation and stiffening strategies in soft wearable and medical robotics. She earned her B.S. in Human Biology from the University of Southern California in 2013 and then came to Boston University to study engineering before pursuing her doctorate.

 

 

Pranav Sultania (he/him)
PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering, 3rd Year
LinkedIn | Research

Pranav’s research interests include sensing, controls, grasping, and locomotion strategies in soft robotics. He earned his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University in 2021 and Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Robotics and Control Systems) from Columbia University in 2022. He then came back to Boston University to pursue his Doctorate.

 

 

Leonardo Zamora (he/him)
PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering, 2nd Year
LinkedIn | Research

Leo’s research interests include soft-robotics design, tactile sensing, and manipulation. He earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2023 before pursuing his doctorate at Boston University.

 

 

 

Anna Maria Moran (she/her)
PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering, 2nd Year
LinkedIn | Research

Anna Maria’s research interests include locomotion, manipulation, and control strategies in bio-inspired soft robotics. She first joined the Morphable Biorobotics Lab as an REU student in 2021 then earned her Bachelors of Arts in Physics from Mount Holyoke College in 2023. She then returned to Boston University to pursue her doctorate.

 

Vi Vo
PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering, 2nd Year
LinkedIn | Research | Webpage

Vi’s research interests include bio-inspired locomotion, self-reconfigurable robots, and controls in soft robots. She earned her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University in 2023. She is supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

 

 

 

Masters Students

Marissa Nedu (BME), LinkedIn

Amy Cameron (BME), LinkedIn

Megha Venkatesam (ME), LinkedIn

Sreekar Praneeth Marri (RAS), LinkedIn

Undergraduate Students

Wes Yan (ME), LinkedIn

Aric Peng (ME), LinkedIn

Cindy Su (ME), LinkedIn

Josette Wynn (ME), LinkedIn

Eric Davis (ME), LinkedIn

Naomi Obinwa (ME), LinkedIn

James Huang (ME), LinkedIn

Mark D. Lucas (BME), LinkedIn

Armen Manucharyan (ME), LinkedIn

Alp Baran Erkul (ME), LinkedIn

Alumni

Ph.D. Graduates

  • Dr. Jacob M. Rogatinsky (ME Ph.D.), LinkedIn, Research, Postdoctoral Researcher at EPFL
  • Dr. Kevin J. McDonald (ME Ph.D.), LinkedIn, Research, Research Engineer at GE Vernova

Masters Graduates

  • George Knight (ME)
  • Liam Thirtyacre (ME)
  • Edwin Joseph (ME), LinkedIn
  • Tanvi Shingade (RAS), LinkedIn
  • Grace Matthews (ME), LinkedIn
  • Srushti Raste (RAS), LinkedIn
  • Casper Muter (RAS), LinkedIn
  • Deniz Albayrak (ME), LinkedIn, PhD Student, ETH
  • Jun Hong Vince Chong (ME)
  • Manvi Saxena (RAS), LinkedIn, PhD Student, University of Michigan
  • Rayan Almaghrabi (ME), LinkedIn
  • Lorenzo Kinnicutt (ME), LinkedIn
  • Yuyuan Zhang (ME), LinkedIn, PhD Student, UMass
  • William Geddes (RAS), LinkedIn
  • Sean Mori Carroll (ME), LinkedIn, R&D Mechanical Engineer at SharkNinja
  • AJ Naik (ME), LinkedIn
  • Anant Pathak (ME), LinkedIn
  • Yuchen Kang (ME), LinkedIn, PhD student, UMass Lowell
  • Ziqi Wang (RAS)
  • Janae Oden (RAS), LinkedIn
  • Yixiao Jiang (ME), LinkedIn, Mechanical Team Lead at ASML
  • Alyda Huerta (ME), LinkedIn
  • Lin Zhang (RAS), LinkedIn
  • Geoffrey Liu (RAS), LinkedIn
  • Piyaporn (View) Chivatanaporn (ME), LinkedIn
  • Perry Thomson (ME), LinkedIn, R&D engineer at Boston Scientific
  • Joanna Thelen (ME), LinkedIn

Visiting Researchers

  • Courtney (CJ) Chavez (Summer 2024 REU Scholar), LinkedIn, Undergraduate Student, Oregon State University
  • Diego Bianchi, LinkedIn, PhD Student, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies
  • Alix Wagner (Summer 2023 REU Scholar), LinkedIn, PhD Student, MIT-Harvard
  • Susanna Aufrichtig (Summer 2023 RISE Scholar), LinkedIn, Undergraduate Student, Cornell University
  • Sidney Wilkinson-Flicker, A.C. Whelan Elementary School
  • Prof. Evren Samur, LinkedIn, Associate Professor at Boğaziçi University, Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Boston University
  • Carlo Taglietti (medical student at BUSM), LinkedIn

Undergraduates

  • David Fang (BME), LinkedIn
  • Celine Chen (CE), LinkedIn
  • Abbigale Shi (BME), LinkedIn
  • Hanna Schlegel (ME), LinkedIn, PhD Student, UC Berkeley
  • Maryam Aliyeva (BME)
  • Howell Xia (ME), LinkedIn
  • Anushka Rathi (BME), LinkedIn, PhD Student, University of Michigan
  • Cathy Cheng (ME), LinkedIn, PhD Student, Harvard University
  • Eva Langenbrunner (ME), LinkedIn, Graduate Student, Harvard University
  • Megan Le (BME), LinkedIn, MS Student, Imperial College London
  • Zi Heng Lim (ME), LinkedIn
  • Emily Sawosik (ME), LinkedIn
  • Jungjae Lee (CE), LinkedIn, Undergraduate Student, Seoul National University
  • Chisom Orakwue (BME), LinkedIn
  • Anas Alamoudi (ME), LinkedIn
  • Kiran Gomatam (ME), LinkedIn, Clare Boothe Luce Scholar
  • Andrew Sasamori (CE), LinkedIn
  • Essoha Kadambaya (ME), LinkedIn
  • Griffin Heyrich (CS), LinkedIn, PhD student, University of Toronto
  • Bryson Garriques (ME), LinkedIn
  • Thomas Bohac (BME), LinkedIn
  • Michael Terekhov (ME), LinkedIn, MS Student, University of Southern California 
  • Min Ju Lee, MS Student, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Megan Lee (BME), LinkedIn, Rotational Field Application Engineer at Boston Dynamics
  • Drue Davis (ME), LinkedIn, Mechanical Engineer at District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences 
  • Samuel Sze (ME), LinkedIn, Robotics Trainee at Aidrivers | A*STAR Scholar 
  • Layan AlSharif (ME), LinkedIn, Engineer IV Saudi Aramco R&D
  • Somtochukwu Emmanuella Okonkwo (ME), LinkedIn
  • Mrinal Ghosh (EE), LinkedIn
  • Christopher Moore (ME)
  • Deema Abdel-Meguid (BME), Linkedin, MS Student, Columbia University
  • Sung Won Han (ME), LinkedIn, Systems Engineer at Fresenius Medical Care North America
  • Stephanie Woodsman (ME), LinkedIn, PhD student, Yale School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  • Anjali Agrawala (BME), LinkedIn, PhD student, Yale School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  • Hung Chin Lin (EE), LinkedIn, MS Student, University of Tokyo
  • Kainan Liu (ME), LinkedIn, MS Student, University of Pennsylvania
  • Justin Gonzalez (ME), LinkedIn, MS Student, UC Berkeley
  • Liam Doran (ME), Linkedin, MS Student, UC Berkeley
  • Alexander Yin (ME), LinkedIn, PhD Student, University of Rhode Island
  • Monika Lee (BME), LinkedIn, Manufacturing Engineer at Boston Scientific
  • Kayla Anissa Benzaid (ME), LinkedIn, Developer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory
  • Siva Tejaswi Irkm (ME), LinkedIn, Automation and Control Design Engineer at Sensata Technologies
  • Lena Sabidussi (ME), LinkedIn, PhD Student, Princeton University
  • Charlotte Cathcart (ME), PhD Student, Princeton University
  • Kimberly Kroupa (ME), LinkedIn, PhD Student, Columbia University
  • Joel Aduba (BME), LinkedIn
  • Anshul Gupte (BME), LinkedIn