Faculty Directory
Ryan Truby

Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

June and Donald Brewer Junior Professor

Contact

2220 Campus Drive
Cook 1131
Evanston, IL 60208

Email Ryan Truby

Website

Robotic Matter Lab

Departments

Materials Science and Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Download CV

Education

Ph.D. Applied Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

B.S. Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX


Research Interests

Inspired by the stark performance gap between biological and artificial machines, my research broadly aims to advance machine intelligence through material design. Our mission in the Robotic Matter Lab is to develop material systems whose forms and functionalities give soft devices and robots novel bioinspired actuation, perception, control, and power capabilities. We take an interdisciplinary approach to solving key challenges in the design, fabrication, and control of autonomous soft robots and robotic materials.


Our lab specializes in the synthesis and characterization of functional soft, polymeric, and nanoscale materials, development of novel additive and digital manufacturing methods, design and control of soft robots, and rheological characterization of soft matter. We are currently working on soft artificial muscles and sensors, rapid multi-material fabrication methods for robotic materials, and machine learning-based control strategies for soft robotics. We conduct these principle research efforts through the lens of our team’s diversity of expertise and perspective, with the goal of pioneering a generation of autonomous systems that bring new innovations to healthcare, environmental stewardship, exploration, automation, and well beyond.


Significant Recognition

  • DARPA Young Faculty Award (DARPA YFA, 2023)
  • Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (ONR YIP, 2022)
  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award (AFOSR YIP, 2022)
  • Outstanding Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (2019)
  • Schmidt Science Fellowship (2018-2020)
  • Materials Research Society Graduate Student Gold Award (2017)
  • National Science Foundation Vizzies Award for Scientific Visualization (2017)
  • Article on entirely soft robots one of Nature Editor’s Top 10 Articles of 2016 (2016)
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2012-2015)

Selected Publications

  1. T. Kim, P. Kaarthik, R. L. Truby. A Flexible, Architected Soft Robotic Actuator for Motorized Extensional Motion. Advanced Intelligent Systems, 2024. 2470054
  2. E. Oh*, A. Q. Kane*, R. L. Truby. Architected Poly(Ionic Liquid) Composites with Spatially Programmable Mechanical Properties and Mixed Conductivity. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2024. 16.
  3. R. L. Truby. Chemically fueling new microrobot abilities. Science, 2024. 381, 1152-1153.
  4. A. L. Evenchik*, A. Q. Kane*, E. Oh*, R. L. Truby. Electrically Controllable Materials for Soft, Bioinspired Machines. Annual Review of Materials Research, 2023. 53.
  5. T. A. Berrueta, T. D. Murphey, R. L. Truby. Materializing Autonomy in Soft Robots across Scales. Advanced Intelligent Systems, 2023. 2300111.
  6. P. Kaarthik, F. L. Sanchez, J. Avtges, R. L. Truby. Motorized, Untethered Soft Robots via 3D Printed Auxetics. Soft Matter, 2022. 18(43), 8229-8237.
  7. R. L. Truby. Designing Soft Robots as Robotic Materials. Accounts of Materials Research, 2021. 2.
  8. B. Roman-Manso*, R. D. Weeks*, R. L. Truby, J. A. Lewis. 3D Embedded Printing of Architected Ceramics via Microwave-Activated Polymerization. Advanced Materials, 2023. 2209270.
  9. R. D. Weeks*, R. L. Truby*, S. G. M. Uzel, J. A. Lewis. Embedded 3D Printing of Multimaterial Polymer Lattices via Graph-Based Print Path Planning. Advanced Materials, 2022. 2209270.
  10. R. L. Truby, L. Chin, A. Zhang, D. Rus. Fluidic Innervation Sensorizes Structure from a Single Build Material. Science Advances, 2022. 8 (31), eabq4385.
  11. R. L. Truby*, C. Della Santina*, D. Rus. Distributed Proprioception of 3D Configuration in Soft, Sensorized Robots via Deep Learning. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2020.
  12. R. L. Truby, M. Wehner, A. K. Grosskopf, D. M. Vogt, S. G. M. Uzel, R. J. Wood, J. A. Lewis. Soft Somatosensitive Actuators via Embedded 3D Printing. Advanced Materials, 2018. 30 (15) 1706383.
  13. A. Kotikian, R. L. Truby, J. W. Boley, J. A. Lewis. 3D Printing of Liquid Crystal Elastomeric Actuators with Spatially Programmed Nematic Order. Advanced Materials, 2018. 30(10) 1706164.
  14. R. L. Truby, J. A. Lewis. Printing Soft Matter in 3D Dimensions. Nature, 2016. 540, 371-378.
  15. M. Wehner*, R. L. Truby*, D. J. Fitzgerald, B. Mosadegh, G. M. Whitesides, J. A. Lewis, R. J. Wood. An Integrated Design and Fabrication Strategy for Entirely Soft, Autonomous Robots. Nature, 2016. 546 (7617), 451.