Prof. Matthew Spenko earned the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University in 1999 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001 and 2005 respectively under Dr. Steven Dubowsky in the Field and Space Robotics Laboratory. From 2005-007 he was an Intelligence Community postdoctoral fellow working with Mark Cutkosky at Stanford University in the Biomimetics and Dextrous Manipulation Laboratory. From 2007 to 2013 he was an assistant professor in the Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Department at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 2013 he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. If you need to set up a meeting with Prof. Spenko, look at his schedule here and then just drop on by the office or lab.

PhD Students

Chenghui Nie is a PHD student. He received his master's degree from Tsinghua university, China and is currently working on the VIV project and the perching MAV.
Donald Ruffatto III is a Ph.D. student. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2009 and 2011 respectively. He was awarded a 2011 NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship to support his Ph.D. work on unique attachment mechanisms for robotic climbing, gripping, and manipulator applications. As part of the fellowship program he periodically travels to the NASA Jet Propulastion Lab and works directly with his NASA mentor, Aaron Parness, to enhance his research. Donald is currently working with electrostatic and dry adhesives for use in space based applications and on MAV project.
Arash Kalantari is a Ph.D candidate. He has received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. degree in Mechatronics from K.N.Toosi University of Tech. He specializes in mechanical design and control of Mobile Robotics Systems. Arash is currently working on the perching MAV project.

MS Students

Jainam Shah received his B.S. from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is currently working on the optimization of electrostatic adhesives for perching, climbing, and manipulation applications.

Alumni

  • Gareth Meirion-Griffith completed his PhD and a short postdoc in the robotics lab in 2012. His research was on the development of predictive mobility models for small-wheeled UGVs operating on deformable terrain. He is now a software engineering consultant at DMC, Chicago (www.dmcinfo.com).
  • Pavel Kukula was a visiting scholar from the Czech Republic. He worked on agility metrics for UGVs.
  • Jainam Shah worked on several projects as an undergraduate researcher.
  • Bastien Loton was a visiting scholar from ENSEA (France) and worked on the Active Camouflage problem.
  • Adrien Thryland was a visiting scholar who worked on the perching MAV problem.
  • Ran Chen helped program the VIV.
  • Guillaume Hauschka received his M.S. in July 2010. He is currently looking for a job somewhere in France.
  • Ben Vancoillie completed his professional master's degree.
  • Manuel López was an undergraduate who worked on building some parts of the omnidirectional vehicle.
  • Imad Khan completed his Masters Degree in 2009 on the omnidirectional vehicle. He is currently a Ph.D. student at Rensaleer Poly Tech.
  • Jeff Mizek worked on active camouflage solutions. He is now a graduate student in the EE department at Purdue.
  • Agata Ciesielski was an undergraduate student who helped out on a variety of projects.
  • Efann Saung worked in the lab as an undergraduate student for two semesters. He was funded by the Office of Undergraduate Research for his first semester. He is responsible for developing the shape deposition manufacturing process, and he also worked on developing new manufacturing techniques to optimize the shape of directional polymer stalks. He is now somewhere in San Diego enjoying the sun.
  • Sinan Oncu worked in the lab in 2008 on the omnidirectional vehicle project.
  • Simo Cusi was a visiting Master's student from Barcelona. He was responsible for the initial experimental and simulation results of the VIV project.
  • Matej Hraksa was a visiting Ph.D. student from the Czech Republic. He worked directional polymer stalks.