Saekwang Nam (남세광) | Tactile Roboticist
I am currently a postdoctoral research associate in Dexterous Robotics Group of Bristol Robotics Laboratory (University of Bristol), UK. I am working on developing and controlling a tactile-based robot gripper for dexterous object manipulation.
Curriculum Vitae
Tracing my life so far…
I was born in South Korea. After high school, I could have a chance to study in Japan with government funding called the “Korea-Japan Government Scholarship Program.” Thus, I studied at Kanazawa University, majoring in mechanical engineering. While studying there, I decided to become a robot scientist who can understand both mechanical engineering and computer science fields. This passion led me to study computer science at the University of California, San Diego. Once the master’s course was over, I had to go back to South Korea to finish the mandatory military service. Alternatively, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), one of the government-funded research institutes in Korea, hired me as technical research personnel (considered as a military servant). In ETRI, I developed several applications based on electroactive polymers and programs to actuate the polymers.
From Sep. 2017 to Oct. 2022, I studied as a Ph.D. student in the Haptic Intelligence Department of Max Planck Institue for Intelligent Systems. I was working on understanding the roles of moisture on the finger pad for stable object grasping. The project starts by looking at physical changes on the finger during the finger-object contact. On Oct. 12th, 2022, I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation and graduated from the Computer Science Department of the University of Tuebingen through IMPRS-IS doctoral program.