We Program

soft microrobots
using focused light

We Control

systems for precise actuation

in neurosurgery

We Design

microgrippers at the

single cell scale

We Build

new tools for

neurosurgery

People

Interested in joining the Microrobotics Lab? Click here for information for potential students.

Lab Director

Eric Diller, Ph.D., P.Eng.

Eric Diller, Ph.D., P.Eng.

  • Clarice Chalmers Chair of Engineering Design
  • Associate Professor
  • Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
  • PhD Carnegie Mellon University, U.S.A.
  • BS & MS, Case Western Reserve University, U.S.A.
  • Dr. Diller has led the Microrobotics Lab since 2014. His work is on micro-scale robotics and bio-inspired novel locomotion systems, and features fabrication and control relating to remote actuation of micro-scale devices using magnetic fields, micro-scale robotic manipulation, and smart materials.
  • Dr. Diller is the recipient of the MIE Department Early Career Teaching Award, the UofT Connaught New Researcher Award, the Ontario Early Researcher Award, the I.W. Smith Award from the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineers, the Dean’s Catalyst Professorship from the UofT Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, the McCharles Prize for Early Career Research Distinction from the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, the Professional Engineers Ontario Young Engineer Medal, and the Early Academic Career Award in Robotics and Automation from the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.

Research Team

Majid Roshanfar

Majid Roshanfar

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Haley Mayer

Haley Mayer

Ph.D. Student

Daniel Sieben

Daniel Sieben

Ph.D. Student

  • Starting September 2021
  • B. Sc, University of Calgary
  • M. Sc, University of Calgary
Erik Fredin

Erik Fredin

Ph.D. Student

  • Starting September 2021
  • M.Sc.Eng. Lund University, Sweden
Chloe Pogue

Chloe Pogue

Ph.D. Student

  • Starting January 2022
  • Co-supervised with Professor Burgner-Kahrs
  • MASc, University of Toronto
  • B.Eng, McGill University
Anastasia Aubeeluck

Anastasia Aubeeluck

Ph.D. Student

  • Starting May 2023
  • MASc, University of Toronto
  • BASc, University of Toronto
Taeyoung Lee

Taeyoung Lee

MASc Student

  • Starting January 2023
  • B. Tech, McMaster University
Ann Ping

Ann Ping

MASc Student

  • Starting September 2023
  • BMSc, Western University
Larissa Jin

Larissa Jin

MASc Student

  • Starting September 2023
  • BEng, Carleton University
Stephen Yang

Stephen Yang

MASc Student

  • Starting September 2024
  • BASc, University of Toronto
Ella Walsh

Ella Walsh

MASc Student

Research Assistants

Zhiyuan (Edward) Yang

Zhiyuan (Edward) Yang

MEng Student

  • Starting May 2024
  • UofT MIE
Alex Yiyu Zhang

Alex Yiyu Zhang

BASc Student

  • Starting May 2024
  • UofT MIE

Alumni

Post-Doctoral Researchers
  • Dr. Changyan He, 2021-2023
  • Dr. Jaekwang Nam, 2019-2020
  • Dr. Peyman Shokrollahi, 2017-2019
Ph.D. Alumni
  • Dr. Xiaoyun Liu, graduated 2024
  • Dr. Zhaoxin (Jason) Li, graduated 2023
  • Dr. Cameron Forbrigger, graduated 2023
  • Dr. Priscilla Lai, graduated 2023
  • Dr. Mohammad Salehizadeh, graduated 2020
  • Dr. Sajad Salmanipour, graduated 2020
  • Dr. Onaizah Onaizah, graduated 2019
  • Dr. Jiachen Zhang, graduated 2018
Masters Alumni
  • Robin Liu, MASc. 2022
  • Zhuo Fan Bao, MASc. 2022
  • Lyle Gauthier, MASc. 2022
  • Monisha Naik, MASc. 2022
  • Nancy Wu, MASc. 2022
  • Adam Schonewille, MASc. 2022
  • Mihai Nica, MASc. 2020
  • Andrew Lim, MHSc. 2019. Co-supervized with James Drake at SickKids Hospital
  • Tianqi Xu, MASc. 2018
  • Omid Youssefi, MASc. 2018
  • Saba Sabetian, MASc. 2018 Co-supervised with James Drake at SickKids Hospital
  • Patrick Ryan, MASc. 2017
  • Zhe Li, MASc. 2017
Undergraduate Researchers & Research Assistants
  • Wen (Vincent) Gu, 2024
  • Gediyon M. Girma, 2024
  • Xander Chin, 2024
  • Minseong Kim, 2024
  • Yuanzhe (Felix) Deng, 2024
  • Ardavan Alaei Fard, 2023
  • Nayaab Ali, 2023
  • Shreesh Mahapatra, 2023
  • Akshat Verma, 2023
  • Chenqi Li, 2022
  • Mulan Wu, 2022
  • Maxwell Zheng, 2022
  • Soham Purohit, 2022
  • Khaled Gaber, 2022
  • Daniel Esser, 2021
  • Sviatoslav Leniuk, 2020
  • Youyang Li, 2020
  • Alexi Tracey, 2020
  • Sumanth Kandala, 2019
  • Alexandre Poersch, 2018
  • Gurtej Bhasin, 2018
  • Ernest Lau, 2018
  • Seifeldin Hassan, 2016-2018
  • Jessica Campos, 2017
  • Ahmed Ujjainwala, 2017
  • Daniel Franca, 2016
  • Vishal Gupta, 2016
  • Piyush Jain, 2016
  • Xian Wang, 2014
  • Hweedo Chan, 2014
High School Interns
  • Joe Ajoy, 2014