Assistant Professor of Robotics
Department of Robotics
University of Michigan
Lab: 2150 FRB
Email: nfz [at] umich.edu
Research Interests
My research interests are Robotic Manipulation and Embodied Intelligence — enabling robotic systems to autonomously and dexterous interact with the physical world. To this end, my group focuses on modeling and representation learning, perception, and planning through contact. My long-term objective is to understand how to develop systems that interact with the physical world autonomously, safely, and gracefully. I am currently most interested in multi-modal (e.g., visuo-tactile) representation learning, model-based reasoning, and planning for robotic systems in uncertain environments. These models of the world can be derived from our understanding of the physical world as well as fundamental advances in learning that allow robots to discover these principles themselves. I am also very excited about tactile sensing, how robots should interpret touch, and how they should build models of the world through vision and touch.
Bio: Nima Fazeli is an Assistant Professor of Robotics at the University of Michigan (2020-Present) and holds courtesy appointments with Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) in EECS and Mechanical Engineering at UM. Nima is also the director of the Manipulation and Machine Intelligence (MMint) Lab. Nima’s primary research interest is enabling intelligent and dexterous robotic manipulation with emphasis on the tight integration of mechanics, perception, controls, learning, and planning. Nima received his PhD from MIT (2019) and completed his postdoctoral training (2020) working with Prof. Alberto Rodriguez. He received his MSc from the University of Maryland at College Park (2014) where he spent most of his time developing models of the human (and, on occasion, swine) arterial tree for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer diagnoses. His research has been supported by the NSF CAREER, National Robotics Initiative, and Advanced Manufacturing, the Rohsenow Fellowship and featured in outlets such as The New York Times, CBS, CNN, and the BBC.
My research program focuses on fundamental enabling technologies for a diverse range of applications including automation, manufacturing, logistics, in-home/assistive robotics, surgical systems, and space robotics. I am proud of our groups focus on both fundamental research and systems level engineering in realizing real-world robotic systems that we can interact with.
Teaching
Introduction to Robotic Manipulation
Education
PhD, 2019 — Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MSc, 2014 — University of Maryland, College Park
BSc, 2011 — Amirkabir University of Technology
For more details about me, please see my CV. For more details about my group, please visit our website.