Ryota Yanagisawa is currently an undergraduate student with the Department of Systems Science, Osaka University School of Engineering Science, Osaka, Japan.
In the summer of 2019, he was a Research Intern with the Institute of Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany.
In the spring of 2020, he was a Visiting Undergraduate Research Fellow with the Department of Physics, Harvard University, Boston, USA. His research interests include bio-inspired robots and soft robots.
Shunsuke Shigaki received B. Eng., M. Eng., and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical and control system engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan in 2013, 2015, and 2018, respectively.
He is currently an Assistant Professor with the Department of System Innovation, Osaka University, Japan. He was a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Research Fellow for Young Scientist (DC1) from April 2015 to March 2018. He worked for Yokohama National University as an Assistant Professor with the Division of Systems Research from April 2018 to March 2019. His research interests include bio-inspired robotics and algorithms, soft robotics, machine learning, and neuroethology.
Kotaro Yasui received his B.A. in Economics from Hitotsubashi University in 2011. From 2011 to 2014, he worked for The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited. He received his M.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Since April 2020, he has been an assistant professor of the Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University. His main research interests are in bio-inspired robotics and mathematical modeling of animal intelligence.
D. Owaki received a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University in 2009. From April 2009 to March 2011, he was an Assistant Professor of the Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University. From April 2011 to September 2017, he was an Assistant Professor of the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. From October 2017 to March 2019, he was an Assistant Professor of the Department of Robotics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University. Since April 2019, he has been an Associate Professor of the Department of Robotics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University. His main research interests are in neuro-robotics, synthetic neuro-rehabilitation, and bio-hybrid systems. He was the recipient of the SICE Annual Conference Young Author's Award (2008), a 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems JTCF Novel Technology Paper Award Finalist, and received the Young Scientists’ Award, MEXT (2020).
Yasuhiro Sugimoto received B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees from Kyoto University in 2000, 2002, and 2005, respectively. From 2005 to 2008, he was an Assistant Professor of the Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University. From April 2009 to September 2014, he was an Assistant Professor of the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University. From October 2014 to October 2016, he was a lecturer at the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University. Since November 2016, he has been an Associate Professor of the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University. His main research interests are walking robots, bio-inspired robotics and artificial muscles. He received the NOLTA, IEICE Best Paper Award (2017).
Akio Ishiguro received B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees in Electronic-Mechanical Engineering from Nagoya University in 1987, 1989, and 1991, respectively. From 1991 to 1997, he was with Nagoya University as an Assistant Professor. From May 1997 to 2006, he was an Associate Professor of the Department of Computational Science and Engineering, Nagoya University. From 2006 to 2011, he was a Professor of the Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University. Since April 2011, he has been a Professor of the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. His main research interests are in bio-inspired robotics, mathematical biology, and nonlinear dynamics. He was a 2003 IROS Best Paper Award Nomination Finalist, received the 2004 IROS Best Paper Award and the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize (Cognitive Science Prize), and was a 2009 IROS Best Paper Award Nomination Finalist and a 2011 IEEE/RSJ NTF Award Finalist for Entertainment Robots and Systems, as well as a 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems JTCF Novel Technology Paper Award Finalist. He also won the 2012 The International Conference on Biomimetic & Biohybrid Systems Best Paper Award, the 2014 SICE SSI Best Research Award, and the 2016 WIRED Audi Innovation Award.
Masahiro Shimizu received a Ph.D. degree in engineering from Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan, in 2006. Since 2006, he has been an Assistant Professor with the Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Miyagi, Japan. In 2010, he became an Associate Professor with the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. Since 2014, he has been an Associate Professor with the Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. His research interests include bio-machine hybrid systems, soft robots, modular robots, decentralized autonomous systems, and embodied systems.