Directory

Carmel Majidi’s career mission is to discover materials, hardware architectures, and fabrication methods that allow robots and machines to behave like soft biological organisms, and be safe for contact with humans. The aim is to replace the bulky and rigid hardware in existing robots with soft, lightweight, and deformable technologies that match the functionality of natural biological tissue. Currently, his group is focused on filled-elastomer composites and soft microfluidic systems that exhibit unique combinations of mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties and can function as “artificial” skin, nervous tissue, and muscle for soft robotics and wearables. He’s particularly interested in approaches that are practical from a rapid prototyping and robotics implementation perspective. This includes efforts to enable robust mechanical and electrical interfacing between soft-matter systems and conventional microelectronics and hardware.

Office
A08 Scaife Hall
Phone
412.268.2492
Fax
412.268.3348
Email
cmajidi@andrew.cmu.edu
Google Scholar
Carmel Majidi
Websites
Soft Machines Lab

Soft & Stretchable Computing Materials

Electronic Tattoos for Wearable Computing: Stretchable, Robust, and Inexpensive

Self-Healing Electrical Material

Engineering new materials for wearable computing

Soft Machines: New Classes of Materials for Next-Generation Wearable Devices

Education

2007 Ph.D., EECS, University of California, Berkeley

2001 BS, CEE, Cornell University

Media mentions


CMU Engineering

450-million-year-old organism finds new life in Softbotics

Researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering used fossil evidence to engineer a soft robotic replica of pleurocystitids, a marine organism that existed nearly 450 million years ago and is believed to be one of the first echinoderms capable of movement using a muscular stem.

BuiltIn

Majidi talks about shape-shifting robots

MechE’s Carmel Majidi talks to BuiltIn about shape-shifting robots. “This technology introduces new capabilities to achieve robotic functions at the small scale in hard-to-reach places,” he says.

Communications of the ACM

Majidi explains importance of soft robotics

MechE’s Carmel Majidi explains the impact soft robotics, such as exoskeletons, artificial skins, and flexible electronics, will have on society.

Pittsburgh Business Times

Majidi wins 2023 Inno Fire Award from Pittsburgh Business Times

MechE’s Carmel Majidi has been awarded the 2023 Inno Fire Award for Trailblazing Innovators from the Pittsburgh Business Times.

CMU Engineering

Scalable manufacturing unlocks potential of soft electronics

New research from Burak Ozdoganlar, Carmel Majidi, and Kadri Burga Ozutemiz seeks to develop a scalable manufacturing method that combines the best of quality and quantity on a miniature scale, with the potential to reimagine how wearable medical devices are made.

Three faculty to work on AFRL projects

The Data-driven Discovery of Optimized Multifunctional Material Systems has announced two new projects made possible with support from the Air Force Research Laboratory. Both will focus on how machine learning can contribute to the development of functional soft materials. CEE’s Kaushik Dayal and MechE’s Carmel Majidi will collaborate on one of the projects, while ChemE’s Gabe Gomes will work on the other.

CMU Engineering

So tricky, a robot can do it

Carnegie Mellon Researchers have taken inspiration from geckos to create a material that adheres to wet and dry surfaces, even on an incline.

CMU Engineering

Now printing: seaweed-based, biodegradable actuators

We are one step closer to naturally compostable robots now that researchers at Carnegie Mellon can print actuators using a bio-ink made from seaweed.

NextPittsburgh

Majidi talks soft robotics research and findings

MechE’s Carmel Majidi spoke with NextPittsburgh about CMU’s Soft Machines Lab and its research in soft robotics.

Scientific American

Majidi comments on new material for “soft robotics” in Scientific American

MechE’s Carmel Majidi talks about a new low-density gel material that is able to conduct electricity to power a motor in Scientific American. “There are so many possibilities that arise when you take machines and robots out of the hard case and engineer them out of materials that are soft and squishy,” Majidi says.

World Economic Forum

Majidi, Yao quoted on softbotics

MechE’s Carmel Majidi spoke to the World Economic Forum about softbotics and their capabilities. “Matching how animals transition from walking to swimming to crawling to jumping is a grand challenge for bio-inspired and soft robotics,” Majidi said.

Science Friday

Majidi speaks on Science Friday about self-healing softbotics material

MechE’s Carmel Majidi talks with Science Friday about a new breakthrough in the field of softbotics: a new material that is able to heal itself.