MMAE 593 Seminar: Amy Kyungwon Han

The School of Engineering, Applied Sciences, and Health presents its MMAE 593 seminar series featuring guest speaker Amy Kyungwon Han, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Seoul National University, who will present “Design and Application of Soft Robotics in Haptics, Gripping, and Medical Fields.” This event is open to the public and will take place on Wednesday, August 26, from 12:45–1:45 p.m. in Room 104 of the Rettaliata Engineering Center.

Abstract

Soft robotics enables safe and adaptive interaction with humans, delicate objects, and dynamic environments through compliant actuators, sensors, and mechanisms. This talk presents the design and application of soft robotic technologies for haptics, gripping, and medical applications, with an emphasis on compact, low-power, and application-specific solutions. Examples include an origami-based haptic device for remote manipulation, hybrid electrostatic mechanisms for handling deformable objects with reduced gripping force, and soft cardiac assistive technologies designed to operate under physiological constraints. Through these examples, the talk highlights how mechanism design and system integration can address challenges in actuation, sensing, safety, and compatibility, demonstrating the potential of soft robotics for safe and adaptive interactions across haptics, gripping, and medical applications.

Biography

Amy Kyungwon Han is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Seoul National University. She was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford and received a Ph.D. and M.S. from Stanford and a B.S. from Georgia Tech. Her research includes soft actuators, sensors, medical robotics, haptics, and manipulation. Han’s awards include the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific, 50 Women in Robotics, Rising Star of RoboSoft, ICRA New Generation Star, and Best RA-L Paper Award. She serves as associate vice president of Technical Activities Board and as co-chair of Technical Committee on Haptics within IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.