Amy Kyungwon Han, Ph.D. (한경원)
Academic Appointments:
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University (2026–Present)
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University (2022–2026)
Adjunct Professor, Interdisciplinary Program in Bioengineering, Seoul National University (2023–Present)
Postdoctoral Researcher, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University (2020–2022)
Professional Service:
Associate Vice President, Technical Activities Board, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (2023–Present)
Co-chair, Technical Committee on Haptics, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (2024–Present)
Associate Editor, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (2023-Present)
Education:
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University (2015-2020)
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University (2013-2015)
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (2009-2012)
Awards and Honors:
New Leader Awards in Science (차세대 리더상, Science 부문) - World Federation of Power Leaders (WFPL) (2025)
Rising Star of RoboSoft - RoboSoft 2025 (2025)
Innovators Under 35 (TR35) Asia Pacific - MIT Technology Review (2024)
Best Oral Presentation Award - Medical Metaverse Conference (2024)
Idea Contest Grand Prize - Korea Haptics Society (2023, 2024)
New Generation Star - Nokov New Generation Star Project at ICRA 2024 (2024)
APBEC Young Scholar Award - Asia Pacific Biomedical Engineering Consortium (2024)
KIMTEC Innovation Award Grand Prize - Korean Innovative Medical Technology Society (2023)
50 Women in Robotics - Women in Robotics (2023)
2022 Best RA-L Paper Award Winner - IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (2023)
Young Engineer Award - Korean Society for Precision Engineering (2022)
Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award - Institute of Controls, Robotics, and Systems (2022)
Best Poster Presentation Award - IEEE ICRA 2021 Workshop (2021)
Rising Stars in Mechanical Engineering - 33 female PhD students and postdocs selected in the US (2019)
2018 King-Sun Fu Memorial Best Paper Award - IEEE Transactions on Robotics (2019)
Best Paper Finalist - IEEE World Haptics Conference (2017)
Best Paper Presentation Finalist - IEEE World Haptics Conference (2017)
Best Student Paper Award - IEEE ICRA (2015)
Samsung Scholarship - Given to 25 students from Korea in PhD programs abroad (2015–2020)
Kwanjeong Educational Fellowship - Given to top students from Korea in master’s programs abroad (2013-2015)
Faculty Honors - The highest GPA at Georgia Tech (2009-2012)
President’s Undergraduate Research Award at Georgia Tech (Spring 2012, Fall 2012)
Research Experience
Dr. Han’s research has focused on designing mechanisms, actuators, and sensors for haptics, medical applications, and grasping. More details of her present and past research are below:
Implantable medical devices
Devices that induce tissue growth of underdeveloped hearts
Biomimetic ventricular assist devices
Soft sensors for measuring myocardial strain
Electrostatic artificial muscles
High work density, lightweight, low power consumption actuator
Electrostatic gecko clutch
Controllable, compact, dry adhesive electrostatic clutch for robotic mechanisms and actuators
Dielectric elastomer electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators
MR-compatible haptic devices based on EAP for teleoperated MR-guided medical interventions
Electrohydraulic actuator or Dielectric fluid transducer (DFT)
Haptic surface display based on miniature dielectric fluid transducers
Gecko-inspired dry adhesives for enhancing human and robotic grasping
Gecko gloves for humans for reducing repetitive stress injury
Integration of gecko adhesives and robotic fingers
Hybrid electrostatic gecko gripping pads for enhanced adhesion on micro-rough surfaces
Multimodal sensor network for soft robotic fingers