Jiawei Zhang
Jiawei Zhang is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose broad research interests include the design and analysis of fundamental optimization algorithms for decision-making, with applications to machine learning, operational research, power engineering, and a wide range of social science challenges in the big-data regime. His doctoral work primarily centered on fundamental optimization and machine learning algorithms. As a postdoc, he will apply this prior work to a hos ...
Abriana Stewart-Height
Abriana Stewart-Height is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research lies at the intersection of rehabilitation robotics, dynamical systems theory, machine learning, and legged locomotion. She seeks to develop assistive robotics devices that improve the mobility of persons with disabilities to navigate outdoor, unstructured environments. Her doctoral research focused on limb loss recovery in dynamic quadrupedal robots that perform remote operations in challenging ...
Crystal E. Owens
Crystal E. Owens is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research lies at the intersection of precision manufacturing and complex fluid mechanics. Specifically, Owens seeks to improve manufacturing processes involving polymeric and structured fluids. As a doctoral student, Owens studied ink rheology and developed a direct-write printing technique for carbon nanotube (CNT) based inks, enabling the printing of flexible electronics as sensors. Now, as a postdoc in comp ...
Kiana Naghibzadeh
Kiana Naghibzadeh is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research explores the mechanical behavior of natural and architected materials using a combination of theoretical, computational, and experimental approaches. In her doctoral work, she focused on developing multiphysics models to study the dynamics of growth in evolving systems motivated by applications in 3D printing, glacial ablation (a primary driver of sea-level rise), and failure in batteries. As a postd ...
Sumin Kim
Sumin Kim is a Koch Institute Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research focuses on 3D genome organization and gene regulation. In her doctoral research, she pioneered quantitative super-resolution imaging techniques to explore cellular mechanisms underlying DYT1 dystonia, a neurodevelopmental disease. In particular, she discovered a novel context of nuclear pore complex (NPC) biogenesis in developing neurons and elucidated the role of torsinA, whose loss of function causes DYT1 dystoni ...
Jeong Hee “Jenn” Kim
Jeong Hee “Jenn” Kim is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research is focused on developing novel techniques for cell and biomolecule monitoring and characterization for many biomedical applications, including diagnostics and treatments. Specifically, Kim is applying deep learning-powered Raman spectroscopy — a light scattering technique that probes a unique molecular fingerprint — to integrate accurate, rapid, and noninvasive molecular-level investigatio ...
Juanita Hidalgo
Juanita Hidalgo is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research is focused on materials for photovoltaic and other optoelectronic applications for sustainable energy. As a doctoral candidate, Hidalgo studied hybrid halide perovskite thin films, which are of interest for use in solar cells, and developed deep expertise in the structure at the surface and bulk of lead halide perovskites using different in-situ X-ray scattering techniques. This work yielded valuable n ...
Ronald Henry Hessier
Ronald Henry Heisser is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in biohybrid robotics whose work integrates his interests in mechanics and design to study and rationalize machine design principles for systems that bridge micro- and macro-scales. Heisser’s doctoral work centered on using combustion to produce high-power motion in millimeter-scale soft actuators, ultimately enabling him to develop a novel, refreshable Braille display system that is potentially more compact a ...
Michael Hagenow
Michael Hagenow is an MIT-Boeing Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research focuses on creating effective and flexible systems for human-robot teaming across a range of applications, with a particular interest in methods for shared autonomy and robot skill acquisition. In his doctoral research, he investigated new approaches for robot behavior acquisition. As a postdoc, Hagenow will continue to pursue innovative techniques that combine iterative learning and human‐in‐the‐loop inte ...
Farhana Easmin
Farhana Easmin is an MIT-Northpond Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in genomic engineering whose work is focused on genome editing and explorations of genome function and breeding, with the goal of building creative solutions to environmental and human health challenges. In her doctoral research, Easmin developed rapid and versatile genome editing tools for the creation of genome diversity in yeast. As a postdoc, Easmin will apply her experience in yeast genome engineering to environmental b ...