Johannes at a glance

I grew up in a small town near Munich, Germany. In my free time, I love to go hiking, traveling, and exploring new countries or simply having a nice dinner with my friends. During visits to Germany, I enjoy spending time in my workshop, building furniture and mechanisms from metal and wood.

Currently, I'm living in Cambridge, USA, conducting a postdoc with Prof. Neville Hogan and Prof. Mehrdad Jazayeri at MIT. My main research interests include motor neuroscience and robot control to help people with neurological and physical disorders. For an overview of me and my publications, you can visit my Google Scholar profile and connect via LinkedIn.

Beyond my research, I am committed to mentoring a gender-minority high school team participating in the global robotics competition, the "FIRST Tech Challenge," to foster inclusivity among the next generation of engineers and researchers.

PhD Research

My PhD was supervised by Stefano Stramigioli (University of Twente) and Neville Hogan (MIT). My thesis, entitled "A Geometric Approach to Robotic Manipulation in Physical Human-Robot Interaction," can be accessed HERE. The main methodology of my PhD work was Differential Geometry, which remains one of my passions and key research tools. My PhD thesis was awarded with highest distinction and was nominated for the Georges Giralt PhD Award.

Professional Career

Before joining MIT, I worked at KUKA Corporate Research in Germany, focusing on robot control with an emphasis on physical interaction. During this time, I participated in several research projects, such as MURAB, IoC , and OPERA, applying various control algorithms on real robots, including Impedance Control, Operational Space Control, and Redundancy Resolution Methods.

In my early years at KUKA, I was part of the team that introduced the robot "LBR iiwa" to the market, one of the first robots designed for physical Human-Robot Interaction. We identified suitable customer applications and primarily implemented them using Impedance control, a method introduced by Prof. Hogan.

During my time at KUKA, I published several patents, some of which have been transferred to products. More details can be found on Google Patents.