Michael Kasman

I’m a Robotics PhD student at The University of Texas at Austin in the Human-Enabled Robotic Technology (HeRo) Lab , where I am fortunate to be advised by Ann Majewicz Fey. I’m passionate about developing robotic and medical devices that assist clinicians in performing procedures more proficiently, safe, and with a higher standard of care. My research interests include Surgical Robotics, Continuum Robotics, Medical Devices, Haptics, and XR Medical Simulations. Currently, I am working on building a flexible robotic surgical system for fetal surgery procedures from scratch, including robotic design, teleoperation and control, visuohaptic assistance, and sensor integration. With a particular focus on surgical robotics, I plan to hone and develop a generalized robotics skillset that can be applied to a wide range of tasks and systems in the robotics field.

Previously, I completed my undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), where I conducted research in robotic surgical skill assessment, developed a solar-powered IoT pool sensor, and created an indoor navigation system for the UTD campus. During this time, I was extremely thankful to be advised by Ann Majewicz Fey (now at UT!), Neal Skinner, and Ravi Prakash.

Whenever I’m free, I spend time practicing kendo, going weightlifitng, and sailing.