Prof. Nima Fazeli

Bio

Nima Fazeli is an Associate Professor of Robotics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, and an Amazon Scholar. He leads the Manipulation and Machine Intelligence (MMint) Lab, which focuses on intelligent and dexterous robotic manipulation. Nima received his Ph.D. from MIT in 2019, where he worked with Prof. Alberto Rodriguez. He earned his M.Sc. from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2014. His work has been recognized with the NSF CAREER Award, and supported by National Robotics Initiative and Advanced Manufacturing. His research has also been featured in major media outlets including The New York Times, CBS, CNN, and BBC.

Research Interests

My research interests are Robotic Manipulation and Embodied Intelligence — enabling robotic systems to autonomously and dexterously 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.

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 group’s 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