Johannes at a glance

I grew up on a small farm near Munich, Germany, where I spent much of my youth building furniture, small mechanisms, and other things from metal and wood. Outside the lab, I enjoy hiking, traveling, and long dinners with friends.

I am active in Engineers Without Borders, where we are renovating a dispensary facility in Mkutani, Tanzania, to improve maternal health care.

Professional Journey

I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at MIT, working at the intersection of motor neuroscience and robotics to develop motor-inspired control algorithms for contact-rich manipulation. Before joining MIT, I spent nine years at KUKA, where I contributed to the development and market launch of the LBR iiwa, one of the first torque-controlled collaborative robots. I later led research on safe physical human-robot interaction, with several of my patents integrated into KUKA’s commercial products.

PhD Research

My PhD, mentored by Stefano Stramigioli (University of Twente) and Neville Hogan (MIT), focused on differential geometric methods for safe and energy-aware physical interaction in robots. My thesis, "A Geometric Approach to Robotic Manipulation in Physical Human-Robot Interaction", received the highest distinction and was a finalist for the Georges Giralt PhD Award.