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, Computer Science (EECS), and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, and an Amazon Scholar with Amazon Robotics. He leads the Manipulation and Machine Intelligence (MMint) Lab, which focuses on intelligent and dexterous robotic manipulation through advances in sensing, learning, and control. 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, where his research focused on modeling the human (and occasionally swine) arterial tree for applications in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer diagnosis. His work has been recognized with the NSF CAREER Award, support from the National Robotics Initiative and NSF Advanced Manufacturing, and the Rohsenow Fellowship. His research has also been featured in major media outlets including The New York Times, CBS, CNN, and 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 Curriculum Vitae. For more details about my group, please visit our website.