Biography
Biography
Postdoctoral Researcher
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
I'm a postdoc in the Department of Medical Engineering at Caltech and received my Ph.D. degree in 2020 from the Department of Material Science & Engineering at KAIST under the supervision of Prof. Sang Ouk Kim. My primary research interest lies in soft robotics and bioeletronics, integrated into a human-machine interface based on functional composites. By using this platform, I aim to explore interfaces of diverse engineering fields for biomedical applications to address essential biotechnological questions and challenges.
During Ph.D. program, my research focused on developing composite structures centered around engineering liquid crystalline materials.
Since joining Prof. Wei Gao's research group at Caltech in 2021, my research has focused on developing soft robotic devices and wearable sensors with material engineering base, progressing towards an interactive closed-loop system. To date, I have cultivated expertise in Chemistry, Meterial Science and Engineering, and Medical Engineering, contributing with 23 leading scientific journal publications and 14 patents, accumulating over 1200 citations.
Postdoctoral Researcher in Medical Engineering, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), 2021 - present
Advisor: Prof. Wei Gao (Gao Research Group)
Ph.D. in Material Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 2016 - 2020
Advisor: Prof. Sang Ouk Kim (Soft Nanomaterials Lab)
Thesis: Fabrication and Application of Graphene-Based Composite Fibers
M.S. in Chemistry, Sogang University, 2014 - 2016
Advisor: Prof. Young Soo Kang
B.S. in Chemistry, B.E. in Integrated Biotechnology, Sogang University, 2010 - 2014
2024 Rising Star Award, Korean-American Biomedical Engineering Society (KBMES)
2024 Innovator Under 35, MIT Technology Review [Link]
2024 Sejong Science Fellowship (State-of-the-art robot manufacturing), NRF
2024 Robotics Travel Award, MDPI
2023 Top 10 Emerging Technologies in Chemistry, IUPAC [Link]
2022 Best Prototype Award, KAIST Institute Core Research Facility
2021 Caltech-KAIST Postdoc Fellowship
2017 Best Poster Presentation Award, 4th International Symposium on Hybrid Materials and Processing
2016 Research scholarship, KAIST MSE
2014 Best Poster Presentation Award, 3rd International Symposium on Hybrid Materials and Processing
2012 Maru Scholarship, Sogang University
2024 Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting & Exhibition
Superstrong Artificial Muscle Fibers with Dynamic Percolation Behavior (Oral)
2024 Korean-American Biomedical Engineering Society (KBMES)
Interactive Human-Machine Interface for Next-Generation Intelligent Medical Robotics (Oral)
2024 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department
Interactive Bioinspired Soft Beetle Robot by Wearable Muscle Platform (Invited talk)
2024 Sungkyunkwan University, Biophysics Department
Bioinspired Soft Beetle Robot with Interactive Human-Machine Interface (Invited talk)
2024 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Material Science & Engineering Department
Interactive human-machine interface of bioinspired soft beetle robot by wearable muscle platform (Invited talk)
2024 California Institute of Technology (Jeonbuk Science High School Mentorship)
Soft robotics and future devices (Oral)
2024 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Soft Robotics (Robosoft 2024)
Scalable printing of superstrong and electrically sensitive artificial muscles (Oral)
2022 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Material Science & Engineering Department
Artificial muscle fibers development towards sensor-integrated autonomous robotic system (Invited talk)
2019 Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting & Exhibition
Mussel-inspired defect engineering for high performance of graphene liquid crystalline fibers (Oral)
2019 International Conference on Advanced Electromaterials (ICAE)
Tunable properties of Janus graphene liquid crystalline fiber via ultrafast flash reduction for humidity sensors (Poster)
2018 International Conference on Nanogenerators and Piezotronics (NGPT)
A facile fabrication of pristine large-area graphene films for flexible optoelectronics (Poster)
2018 Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting & Exhibition
A facile assembly of reduced graphene oxide film for flexible optoelectronics (Poster)
2017 International Conference on Advanced Materials and Devices (ICAMD)
Rapid assembly of reduced graphene oxide film for transparent and flexible optoelectronics (Poster)
2017 International Symposium on Hybrid Materials and Processing (HyMaP)
Reduced graphene oxide film for transparent and flexible optoelectronics (Poster)
2016 A3 Symposium on Emerging Materials: Nanomaterials for Electronics, Energy and Environment (EMN 3CG)
A facile fabrication of pristine large-area graphene films (Poster)
2015 Collaborative Conference on Crystal Growth (EMN 3CG 2015)
Synthesis of high performance Co(Soft)/SmCo5(Hard) nanocomposite magnets by core/shell nanoparticles for exchange-
coupled nanocomposite (Poster)
2014 International Symposium on Hybrid Materials and Processing (HyMaP)
Synthesis of high performance Co(Soft)/SmCo5(Hard) nanocomposite magnets by core/shell nanoparticles for exchange-
coupled nanocomposite (Poster)
Wei Gao, Ph. D. (Postdoctoral advisor)
Professor
Ronald and JoAnne Willens Scholar
Division of Engineering and Applied Science
Department of Medical Engineering
Investigator of Heritage Medical Research Institute
California Institute of Technology
1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
E-mail: weigao@caltech.edu
Sang Ouk Kim, Ph. D. (Ph.D. advisor)
Chair Professor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
National Creative Research Initiative Center for Multi-Dimensional Directed Nanoscale Assembly
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
291 Daehak-ro, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
E-mail: sangouk.kim@kaist.ac.kr
Jiheong Kang, Ph. D. (Collaboration advisor)
Associate professor
Department of Chemistry
Seoul National University
1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
E-mail: jiheongkang@snu.ac.kr
Roland Yingjie Tay , Ph. D. (Collaborator)
Assistant Professor
School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Nanyang Technological University
50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
E-mail: rolandtay@ntu.edu.sg
Chiara Daraio, Ph. D. (Collaboration advisor)
G. Bradford Jones Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics
Investigator of Heritage Medical Research Institute
California Institute of Technology
1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
E-mail: daraio@caltech.edu