Lightning Talks

Updated 6/11/25

MONDAY JUNE 16th Lighting Talks Session I 

• • Repeatable Energy-Efficient Perching for Flapping-Wing Robots Using Soft-Grippers, Krispin Broers, Graduate student, Imperial College London

  • Solar reflectance properties and potential applications of iridescence in Sturnidae, Samantha Rutledge, Graduate student, Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science

  • Analysis of Bird Airfoil Aerodynamic Efficiency, Faiza Alvi, Graduate student, UC Davis

  • Increasing agility of insect robots through body shape morphing, Heiko Kabutz, Graduate student, University of Colorado Boulder

  • Adapting flight dynamics with molt, Alfonso Martinez, Postdoc, University of California, Davis

  • Feeling with feathers: aeroelastic vibrations for flow sensing in a morphing wing, Jasmin Wong, Postdoc, University of Bristol

  • Wingtips with a Twist: Avian-Inspired Flow Control, Hannah Wiswell, Graduate student, Princeton University

  • Vision, Learning, and Distributed Processing in a group of Brainless Marine Invertebrates (Echinoderms), Julia Notar, Postdoc, Duke University/University of Washington

  • Functional organization of haltere feedback for Drosophila flight control, Brad Dickerson, Faculty, Princeton University

  • Sparse and efficient sensing in flight: Lessons from insect wings, Ali Weber, Faculty, Bryn Mawr College

  • Bioinspired distributed flow sensing, Shane Windsor, Faculty, University of Bristol

  • Gaze strategy and guidance models during natural flight in forests, Henry Cerbone, Graduate student, University of Oxford

  • Deep reinforcement learning to mimic neuromechanical control: realistic walking in an embodied fly, Elliott Abe, Postdoc, University of Washington

MONDAY JUNE 16th Lighting Talks Session II

• • Flexible Muscle Coordination Gives Rise to Identical Movements, Raveena Chhibber, Graduate student, University of Washington

  • Driving haltere motion with antennae in Drosophila, Amy Streets, Postdoc, Case Western Reserve University

  • Quantifying odor-tracking flight of M. sexta using 6DoF, Shivansh Dave, Graduate student, Case Western Reserve University

  • Bioprincipic novel imaging modes, Daniel Chappell, AFRL/AFOSR/DSTL/other government employee, AFRL

  • Progress in Low-SWaP Vision Sensors, Geoffrey Barrows, Industry scientist, Centeye, Inc.

  • Inspiration from birds for active shape optimisation via wing morphing, Mario Martinez Groves-Raines, Postdoc, University of Bristol

  • A physically intelligent soft, distributed insect-inspired sensor enhances tactile feature perception, Lingsheng Meng, Graduate student, Penn State

  • Insect inspired MEMS sensing and computing units, Fadi Alsaleem, Faculty, University of Nebraska Lincoln 

  • Active Perception in Dynamic and Uncertain Environment, Jane Shin, Faculty, University of Florida

  • Information gathering as a driving principle of movement, Floris van Breugel, Faculty, University of Nevada, Reno

  • Sensor Consensus in Drone Systems Using Insect-Inspired Flight Motifs, Jaden Mecham, Graduate student, University of Nevada, Reno

  • Where are the sensors?, Richard Bomphrey, Faculty, Royal Veterinary College 

TUESDAY JUNE 17th Lighting Talks Session I

• • Simple geometric models of kinematic legged locomotion, Hari Krishna Hari Prasad, Postdoc, Pennsylvania State University

  • Variability of Take-off Flight Performance in Predator Escape, Kyu Min Huh, Graduate student, University of Oxford/Oxford Flight Group & Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology

  • Active sensing is required for artificial agents to learn to track odor plumes, Lawrence Hu, Graduate student, University of Washington 

  • Smellicopter: expanding the selectivity, sensitivity, and lifespan of biohybrid sensors, Melanie Anderson, Postdoc, University of Washington

  • Biohybrid VOC Sensing with Extended-Life Antennae, Elisabeth Steel, AFRL contractor and industry scientist/technical program manager, AFRL/AV

  • Making insects play video games, Pavan Kaushik, Postdoc, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

  • Modeling adaptive tracking of simple and complex stimuli in weakly electric fish, Yu Yang, Graduate student, Johns Hopkins University

  • Updates to the Sensorimotor Analysis and Design Tool, Zoe Turin, Postdoc, University of Colorado Boulder

TUESDAY JUNE 17th Lighting Talks Session II

• • Tuning Sensing to Dynamics and Actuation, Sean Humbert, Faculty, University of Colorado Boulder

  • Task-Relevant Multisensory Representation in Neuronal Bottlenecks, Varun Sharma, Graduate student, Georgia Tech

  • Hawkmoths maintain tracking performance without sensorimotor adaptation in response to closed-loop feedback perturbations, Elliot Huang, Undergraduate, Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Learning how Neurons Learn, Pamela Abshire, Faculty, University of Maryland, College Park

  • Energy harvesting autonomous microrobots, Vikram Iyer, Faculty, University of Washington

  • Odor Tracking Algorithm for Sparse Dynamic Windy Environments, Toha Elahi, Graduate student, University of Nevada, Reno

  • Quantifying the range of motion in the avian tail, Alex Fillman, Graduate student, University of California, Davis

  • Halteres sense multi-dimensional perturbations in crane flies, Jessica Fox, Faculty, Case Western

  • NIRF status, Ric Wehling, AFRL/AFOSR/DSTL/other government employee, AFRL/RWT