Autonomous Systems, Robotics, and Aerospace

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Faculty and Labs
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All technical systems rely on engineering fundamentals, such as materials, acoustics, controls, and thermal and fluid science. Maseeh labs, including Oregon’s only drop tower facility, work on these fundamentals. Our researchers apply this knowledge to real-world challenges—from creating more efficient electronics cooling to designing advanced robotic systems. Much of this work involves students, all of it matters in the real world.

Biologically Inspired Robots

The Agile & Adaptive Robotics Laboratory (AARL) at Portland State University studies how animals and humans achieve agile, stable, and adaptable movement and applies those principles to robotic systems.

Led by Mechanical and Materials Engineering Professor Alex Hunt in PSU’s Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, the lab brings together robotics, biomechanics, artificial muscles, sensing, neural control, and advanced manufacturing. AARL researchers use physical robots and computational models to study biological movement and develop machines that can adapt to complex environments.

In this video, postdoctorate researcher Leo Micklem talks about the lab's work and how students can get involved.

AARL webpage

Expertise in Nanotechnology

Current research projects in the Jiao Lab span from the development of nanofabrication techniques for property-controlled growth of graphene and its metal oxide hybrids, nanotubes, nanowires, and nanocrystals for use in nanoelectronic devices with the potential for industrial applications, to the use of nanoscale materials and devices for biomedical applications as well as for water purification.

In this video, PhD candidate Kaleb Hood takes us through the labs work and how undergraduate students can get involved.

Nano Development Lab

Design and Manufacturing

Our researchers design, test, and refine metal alloys to make sure they hold up: stronger, safer, and longer-lasting. For over a decade, we've partnered with aerospace and manufacturing companies to solve real problems — like keeping metal from failing in extreme heat or making it more resistant to corrosion.

Agile Robotics

Our researchers study how animals balance, walk, and adapt on the fly, then build that intelligence into robotic legs, muscles, and nervous systems. The result: robots like "Muscle Mutt," a four-legged robodog built with 3D-printed bones and artificial muscles that move the way real bodies do.

Students work on a long tubular object with dense wires.

Aerospace Engineering

Faculty and students collaborate on complex aerospace projects, including high-powered rockets, liquid-fuel propulsion systems, CubeSats, and spaceflight-ready hardware.

Featured Faculty and Labs

Faculty

Labs & Facilities

Andrew Greenberg

Alex Hunt

Martin Siderius

Chien Wern

Sung Yi

Xiaowei "Luke" Zhu

Agile & Adaptive Robotics Lab

Materials and Manufacturing

NEAR Lab

PSAS Aerospace Society

PSU Turbulence Lab

A group of students work together on a laptop.

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News

June 11th 2026

Surface Properties: Kaleb Hood on Graphene and Getting into Grad School

The first thing Kaleb Hood does in his nanomaterials lab with a new undergraduate researcher is hand them a piece of scotch tape. "Do you want to get a Nobel Prize?" he asks. "And they're like, what?" Then they repeat the basic steps of an experiment that eventually won the Nobel Prize in...

August 29th 2025

Portland State University Researcher Awarded Grant to Develop Groundbreaking Low-Bandwidth 3D Imaging Technology

Researchers Atul Ingle and David Maier have received a development grant from Portland State University’s Venture Development Fund (UVDF). The award will enable Ingle, Maier and their students to build a working hardware prototype of their novel Single-Photon 3D Camera system, a critical...

August 28th 2025

From Campus to Orbit: AscendArc and PSU Forge a Path for Portland's Aerospace Future

Recently, spacetech company AscendArc, visited the Portland State Aerospace...