NGS Team

Dan O. Popa (Senior Member, IEEE), has nearly 30 years of research experience in robotics and automation. His early research work (1993-1998) include Adaptive Force Control and Motion Planning for Nonholonomic Robots. In 1998, he joined the Center for Automation Technologies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, as a Research Scientist, where he focused on precision robotics, micromanufacturing and MEMS. In 2004, he became an Assistant and then an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington until 2015. Since 2016, he has been the Vogt Endowed Chair in Advanced Manufacturing and a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Louisville. He is currently the Director of the Louisville Automation and Robotics Research Institute (LARRI) and the Head of the Next Generation Research Group (NGS) conducting research in two main areas: 1) social and physical human–robot interaction through adaptive interfaces and robot tactile skins; and 2) the design, characterization, modeling, and control of micro, nano and precision robotic systems. 

Johanna Boone received her BS and MEng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Louisville. Her career has included positions in engineering, marketing, and advertising, as well as project, product, and people management.

Andriy Sherehiy (IEEE Member) received a B.Sc and M.S. degrees in physics from University of Rzeszow, Rzeszow, Poland, in 2006 and 2008, respectively; as well, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in experimental condensed matter physics and material science from University of Louisville, Louisville, USA in 2010 and 2014, respectively. His doctoral studies were primarily focused on thermionic emission from nano/microstructured carbon materials. In 2015, he became a postdoctoral researcher at ElectrOptics Research Institute and Nanotechnology Center (ERINC). In 2018, he joined Next Generation Group (NGS) at the University of Louisville as a postdoctoral research associate and is currently continuing his work as a Senior Research Scientist at Louisville Automation and Robotics Research Institute (LARRI). His main research interest is in the development of automated systems integrating precision robotics and multiscale additive manufacturing and microrobotics applications for in situ SEM nano/micromanipulation.

Jordan Jones is dedicated to providing comprehensive administrative support for NGS. Her expertise spans financial administration, procurement services, student management, recruitment, outreach, and proposal assistance. With a focus on efficiency and effectiveness, Jordan ensures that all administrative processes run smoothly, helping NGS achieve its goals.

Ruoshi Zhang (IEEE Member) received the B.S. degree on Telecommunications from Ren’ai College of Tianjin University, Tianjin, China, in 2012 and M.S. degree on Electrical Engineering from University of Texas at Arlington in 2015. He received his PhD. Degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Louisville in 2020. Ruoshi currently is a post-doctoral research associate at the Louisville Automation & Robotics Research Institute, focusing on developing light-driven microrobot and multi-modal sensor skin and garments for healthcare and home robots.

Alireza Tofangchi received a B.S degree in Mechanical Engineering from Shiraz University and an M.S. degree in Applied Mechanics from Sharif University of Technology-Tehran in 1993 and 199,6, respectively.  He earned his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2015 under the supervision of Prof. T. Saif, with a focus on understanding the mechanics of axonal contraction in neuron cells in-vivo, along with designing Bio-MEMS micro-force sensors.  Served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at St. Ambrose University in the following year, and he later joined Prof. Saif's lab in 2016 as a postdoctoral research fellow and focused on designing various types of force/stiffness sensors featuring several orders of magnitude in measurement range, applicable for studies of soft tissue/materials in-vivo. In 2017, he joined Dr. Keng Hsu’s Advanced Manufacturing Lab at the University of Louisville as a senior research associate. Since then, he has been involved in several projects mainly focused on the process development of hybrid, ultrasound-FFF 3D printed techniques to fabricate smart, tunable soft sensor/actuators with various applications. He has also been involved in the Next Generation Research Group-MRI in Dr. Popa’s group since 2018, to the design and integration of FDM-Ultrasonic electrode patterning/DAED system with the new platform of Robotic assembly in Nexus system.