Assistant Professor
Robotics Institute
Mechanical Engineering Department
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 perception, reasoning, learning, and controls through contact.
My research addresses fundamental questions in multi-modal (e.g., visio-tactile) perception, representation, reasoning, and acting in situ for robotic systems in uncertain environments. My long-term objective is to understand and emulate human-level physical reasoning. For example, what are our intuitions and guiding principles in designing and using tools? What are the common properties of behaviors we have developed to mitigate uncertainty when interacting with objects? How do we build and efficiently use abstractions such as “locked” vs “open” doors via context and visio-tactile feedback?
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.
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.