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FacultyProfileSchoolofMechanical&AerospaceEngineeringCornellEngineering

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Robert Shepherd

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ShepherdGroupResearchLaboratory

News:
MAEteamwinsdesign
competition

FoamHeartCouldPump
InsideYouJustLikeTheReal
Thing.
Softrobottoswimthrough
Europa'soceans

MAEProf.Shepherdreceives
theAirForce'sYoung
InvestigatorResearchAward
EAPADConference2014
keynotespeaker,Prof.Robert
Shepherd,
Seeallnews

http://www.mae.cornell.edu/people/profile.cfm?netid=rfs247

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16/02/2016

FacultyProfileSchoolofMechanical&AerospaceEngineeringCornellEngineering

RobertShepherd
Dept:MechanicalandAerospaceEngineering
Title:AssistantProfessor
Address:277KimballHall
Phone:6072558654
Email:rfs247@cornell.edu
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RobShepherdreceivedhisB.S.(2002)andPh.D.(2010)inMaterialScienceattheUniversityofIllinoiswherehisresearchfocusedondevelopingpolymericand
colloidalsuspensionsas'inks'for3Dprinters.Healsofabricatedmicrofluidicdevicestosynthesizesinglemicrontomillimeterscaleparts(e.g.,glassand
siliconmicrogears).Concurrentlytoperformingthisresearch,hereceivedhisM.B.A.(2009)atUofIandstartedacompany,workedwithseveralother
startups,andgainedsignificantexperiencewiththedetailsofmarketresearch,financials,accountingissues,andlegalaspectsofentrepreneurship.In2010,he
continuedhiseducationasapostdoctoralfellowatHarvardUniversityinGeorgeWhitesides'sresearchgroupintheDepartmentofChemistryandChemical
Biology.Inthisgroup,hedevelopedpneumaticactuatorsinsoftelastomersthattooktheformofamachinecapableofmovinginmultiplegaits:walkingand
undulating.Theseactuatorshavealsobeenusedforlowcostmanipulators,andinconcertwithamicrofluidicsystemforbiomimeticcamouflage&display.

Research Interests
Dr.Shepherdisinterestedindevelopingdisruptivemanufacturingtechnologies(e.g.,3Dprinting,replicamolding,microfluidics,etc.)andfunctional
materialstoenablenewdevicesanduserexperiences.Heisparticularlyinterestedinsimultaneouslyincreasingthespeed,dimensionality,resolution,and
materialscapabilityoffreeformfabricationtechniques,anddevelopingsoftactuatorsthatmimicbiologicalfunctions,butnotnecessarilytheirmechanisms:
Theseinterestsaresynergisticandwill,perhaps,enablemoreefficientandlifelikemachines.

Teaching Interests
DesignandManufacturing

Selected Publications
Morin,SA.,RobertShepherd,S.Kwok,AA.Stokes,A.Nemiroski,GMWhitesides.2012."CamouflageandDisplayforSoftMachines."Science337
(6096):828832.
Shepherd,Robert,P.Panda,Z.Bao,JA.Lweis,KH.Sandhage,TA.Hatton,PSDoyle.2008."StopFlowLithographyofColloidal,Glass,andSilicon
Microcomponents."AdvancedMaterials20(24):47344739.
Shepherd,Robert,T.Sabuwala,JC.Conrad,G.Gioia,JALewis.2012."TheStructuralEvolutionofCuboidalGranularMedia."SoftMatter8(17):4795
4801.
Shepherd,Robert,F.Ilievski,W.Choi,SA.Morin,AA.Stokes,AD.Mazzeo,X.Chen,M.Wang,GMWhitesides.2011."MultigaitSoftRobot."PNAS108
(51):2040020403.
Ilievski,F.,AD.Mazzeo,RobertShepherd,X.Chen,GMWhitesides.2011."SoftRoboticsforChemists."AngewandteChemieInternationalEdition50
(8):18901895.
seemorepublications

Selected Awards and Honors

YoungInvestigatorAward(AirForce)2015
3MNonTenuredFacultyAward2014
IllinoisYoungAlumnusAwardinMaterialScience2014
MultigaitsoftrobotfeaturedonseveralmediaoutletsincludingCNN,CBS,WallStreetJournalandBBC2011
Fireextinguishing"wand"featuredasTop50Inventionof2011(TimeMagazine)2011

Websites
GroupResearch
ShepherdLaboratory

Education
BS(MaterialScience&Engineering),UniversityofIllinois,UrbanaChampaign,2002
MBA(GeneralManagement),UniversityofIllinois,UrbanaChampaign,2009

http://www.mae.cornell.edu/people/profile.cfm?netid=rfs247

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FacultyProfileSchoolofMechanical&AerospaceEngineeringCornellEngineering

PhD(MaterialScience&Engineering),UniversityofIllinois,UrbanaChampaign,2010

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2016CornellUniversity

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