Mechanical Engineering Graduate Seminar Series: Dr. Yihao Zheng, "From Medical and Manufacturing Innovation to Human-Centered Convergence Research""

Abstract : With the goal of advancing engineering science and technology to enhance healthcare, I conduct convergence research through transdisciplinary collaboration with engineers, scientists, and physicians, integrating advanced manufacturing, robotics, machine learning, sensing, and translational medicine to improve safety, quality, efficiency, and economy of healthcare service and research. In the past five years at WPI, with deeper technology integration and broader clinical applications, my research has evolved through three key themes: 1) Medical and Manufacturing Innovation, 2) Smart Health, and 3) Human-Centered Convergence Research. In this talk, I will introduce each theme with example projects. In Medical and Manufacturing Innovation, I will elaborate a unique research philosophy and framework based on a hospital-factory analogy, with examples of medical device development for human tissue machining. In Smart Health, I will demonstrate how recent advancements in artificial intelligence contribute to real-time, data-driven, clinical decision-making and autonomous medical robotics. In Human-Centered Convergence Research, I will share my vision of transdisciplinary learning and transfer of human manual skills for workforce development and robotic automation.

Bio : Yihao Zheng is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He is affiliated with the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Robotics Engineering. Before joining WPI in 2019, he worked as a Research Investigator (research-track faculty) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan (UM), and as a Collaborative Investigator at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from UM in 2016. Dr. Zheng’s research focuses on enhancing healthcare through advanced engineering science and technology integration and collaborations with medical schools and medical device companies. His research contributes to both fundamental science and clinical applications and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs, medical device companies, and charity foundations. He has published 38 peer-reviewed journal articles and holds four granted and two pending patents.