Research

CDR research laboratories are headed by Professors Larry Leifer (CDR Director), Mark Cutkosky, Allison Okamura, and Sheri Sheppard (Co-Directors).

The Biomimetics and Dextrous Manipulation Laboratory (BDML) (Professor Mark Cutkosky, PI) research activities include modeling and control of dextrous manipulation with robotic and teleoperated hands; force and tactile feedback in telemanipulation and virtual environments; and design and control of compliant "biomimetic" robots with embedded sensors and actuators.

The Collaborative Haptics and Robotics in Medicine Lab (CHARM Lab), (Professor Allison Okamura PI), develops principles and tools needed to realize advanced robotic and human-machine systems capable of haptic (touch) interaction. Systems for teleoperation, virtual environments and robotic manipulation are designed and studied using analytical and experimental approaches. Application areas include surgery, simulation and training, rehabilitation, prosthetics, neuromechanics, exploration of hazardous and remote environments, design and education.

The Designing Education Lab (DEL) (Professor Sheri Sheppard, PI) investigates a broad range of engineering education topics, from the persistence of students and alumni in engineering fields to the impact of exposure to entrepreneurship on engineering students' career interests. DEL researchers are engaged in national and international collaborations with colleagues within and outside of engineering. Our activities and projects emphasize the relationship of research to academic and professional practice by informing the redesign of engineering course pedagogy and curriculum and the dissemination of findings in conference papers, workshops, webinars, online resources and publications.

The DesignX Lab (Professor Larry Leifer, PI) is focused on graduate-level research in the larger subjects of design innovation, design methodology, and design education. Our designX community is comprised of fulltime members who arrive from a diverse range of disciplines including sociology, product design, neuroscience, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, economics, business and architecture. While our lab reflects a range of interests across multiple disciplines, we share an interest and commitment to better understanding Design Thinking – A research and design paradigm which is user-centered and is proving to yield superior outcomes in the face of contemporary problems.  We are actively developing understandings of design as a research topic, as a research method, and as a philosophical approach.

To learn more about each lab, click on the menu links on the left.