Nelson Lab: Alumni

PhD degrees
David Miller (May 2008): “An Intelligent Modular Tool for Minimally Invasive Surgery”
Xiaoli Zhang (August 2009): “Design and Development of Portable Tool Positioning Robot for Telesurgery”
S.G.M. Hossain (May 2014): “Towards A Sustainable Modular Robot System for Planetary Exploration”
Abolfazl Pourghodrat (August 2014): ““Fluid Powered Miniature In-Vivo Robots for Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS)”
Baoliang Zhao (August 2015): “A Sensorless Haptic Interface for Robotic Minimally Invasive Surgery”
Tao Shen (August 2016): “Design, Analysis, Control and Testing of a Multifunctional NOTES Robot”
Cale Stolle (December 2016): “Design and Evaluation of Scalable Pediatric Gait Rehabilitation Robots”
Mohsen Zahiri (May 2017): “Application of Computer Vision in Surgical Training and Surgical Robotics”
Jay S. Chae (August 2023): “Robot Development with Application for Human Health”

MS degrees
Kimberly Ryland (May 2007): “Design and Development of a Novel Infant Surgical Table for 4-DOF Patient Manipulation”
David Albrecht (December 2007, non-thesis option):  “Railroad Power Scavenging”
Vedvyas Kamarajugadda (August 2008): “Comparative Study of Inductive and Piezoelectric Power Scavenging Techniques for Track Health Monitoring”
Scott Siebler (August 2009): “Design and Development of a Free-Standing 4-DOF Infant Surgical Table”
Sean Hansen (August 2009): “Power Harvesting for Railroad Track Safety Enhancement Using Vertical Track Displacement”
Allan Provorse (December 2009): “An Under-Actuated 5-Degree-of-Freedom Robotic Manipulator for Ultrasound Inspection of Achilles Tendon”
Andrew Graham (May 2010, non-thesis option):  “Assistive Gait Rehabilitation Design”
Jeff Berg (August 2010): “Mechanical Testing Device for Viscoelastic Biomaterials”
S.G.M. Hossain (August 2010): “Material Modeling and Analysis for the Development of a Realistic Blast Headform”
Eyitejumade Sogbesan (May 2011): “Design and Analysis of Blast Induced Traumatic Brain Injury Mechanism Using a Surrogate Headform: Instrumentation and Outcomes”
Chi Min Seow (August 2011): “Robotic Manipulator with Multiple Instruments for Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery”
Wei Jian Chin (August 2011): “Articulated Mechanism Design and Kinematics for Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery Robot”
Abolfazl Pourghodrat (August 2011): “Energy Harvesting Systems Design for Railroad Safety”
Kyle Phillips (August 2011): “Simulation and Control System of a Railroad Track Power Harvesting Device”
N. Thao Nguyen (May 2012): “A Conductivity Testing System Coupled with a Tensile Testing Machine to Measure the Surface Properties of Polymer Specimens”
Jeff Midday (May 2012): “Material Handling System for Robotic Natural Orifice Surgery”
Brent Griffin (August 2012, co-advised with C. Detweiler from CSE Dept.): “Automated Resonant Wireless Power Transfer to Remote Sensors from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle”
Michael Head (December 2012): “Modular Joystick Design for Virtual Reality Surgical Skills Training”
Alan Goyzueta (May 2013): “Passive and Actuated Grasping using Superelastic Materials for Surgical Applications”
Etienne Dessauw (August 2013): “Design of a Compliant Underactuated Robotic Finger with Coordinated Stiffness”
Saeideh Akbarisamani (December 2015, co-advised with J. Hawks): “Visual Feedback System for Ultrasound Training”
Charles Ross Welch (May 2016, co-advised with B. Terry): “Design of Medical Devices for Diagnostics in the Gastrointestinal System”
James Higgins (August 2016, co-advised with C. Detweiler): “Design, Testing and Evaluation of Robotic Mechanisms and Systems for Environmental Monitoring and Interaction”
Kazi Mashfique Hossain (August 2016): “Design and Algorithms for a Modular Self-Reconfigurable Robot”
R. Gonzalo Garay-Romero (August 2017): “Tool-Exchange System for a Two-armed Laparo-endoscopic Single-site Surgery Robot (R-LESS)”
Trevor Craig (August 2017): “Interacting with the Human Eye: Gaze Vector Shape Based Recognition and the Design of an Improved Episcleral Venomanometer”
Devin Elley (August 2017): “Application of DFX Methods to a Gait Rehabilitation System”
Colin Elley (August 2017): “Design of an Ankle Prosthesis for Two-Degree-of-Freedom Motion in the Sagittal and Coronal Planes”
Ashish Shinde (December 2017): “Cam-based Pose-Independent Counterweighting for Partial Body-weight Support in Rehabilitation”
Dil Abulimiti [Dilmurat Kizghin] (August 2018): “Design of Parallel Robot for Dental Articulation and its Optimization”
Tze Yeen Yap (December 2019): “Design of a Portable Venomanometer System for Episcleral Venous Pressure Measurement”
Nathan Jensen (May 2020): “A New 6-Degree-of-Freedom 3-Leg Parallel Manipulator”
Tanner Buresh (May 2020, non-thesis option): “Design of Modular Robotics Platform using the Compliant Rolling-Element Joint”
Mitchell Bruckner (August 2020): “A Modular Robot System for Assistive Tasks”
Luke Monhollon (December 2020, co-advised with D. Keshwani): “Incorporating Spatial Variability into Integrated Models of Agricultural Practices and Sustainability"
CheeTown Liew (August 2021, co-advised with S. Pitla): “Development of Tractor Instrumentation System: Hydraulics, and Controller Area Network Data Analysis of Agricultural Machinery”
Zvonimir Pusnik (May 2022): “Design of Path Correction for Improved Gait Rehabilitation”
Austin Griswold (December 2022, co-advised with B. Terry): “Design and Implementation of a Detection System for Aerosolized Threats”

Undergraduate researchers

UCARE program:

  1. Evan Luxon (2006-08)
  2. Chi Min Seow (2007-09)
  3. Khoa Chu (2008-10, also McNair program)
  4. Michael Head (2009-10)
  5. Alan Goyzueta (2010-11)
  6. Christian Padilla (2011-13, also McNair program)
  7. Jared Ostdiek (2010-13)
  8. Joseph Tran (2012-13, also McNair program)
  9. David Pacheco (2013, also McNair program)
  10. M. Jackie Hernandez (2012-13, also McNair program)
  11. Rohit Thallam (2014)
  12. Jordan McElligott (2015)
  13. Ethan Brush (2016-2018)
  14. Cole Dempsey (2017-2018, also McNair program)
  15. Hadi Alsafwani (2018-2019)
  16. Pin-Hao Cheng (2018-20)
  17. Adonis Nesser (2019-20)
  18. Alberto Alaniz (2020-21)
  19. Mohammed Sbai (2021-22)
  20. Noah Garcia (2021-22, also McNair program)
  21. Amber Tannehill (2022-23)
  22. Peyton Kullmann (2023-24)
  23. Tyler Downey (2023-24, also McNair program)

UNL honors program:

  1. Erin Hammons (2008-09): ARO RED Head project
  2. Eric Pohl (2008-09): ARO RED Head project
  3. Eric Wood (2008-09): adaptive control using 2-input 1-output scheme
  4. Jack Mondry (2008-09): NASA microgravity project
  5. Zach Burton (2011): Ergonomic rake linkage
  6. Natalie Lenners (2013-14): “Novel Ankle-Foot Prosthesis Design”
  7. Griffin Hovorka (2013-14): “Design and Optimization of a Small Off-Road Vehicle Transmission”
  8. Kevin Kreis (2013-14): “Loom Revitalization Project”
  9. Caleb Berggren (2013-14): “Mechanical Design of a Microgravity Free-Flyer”
  10. Nick Goeser (2013-14): “Gripper Design for Objects of Various Orientations”

Other undergraduate researchers:

  1. Scott Thorson (summer 2009)
  2. Andrew Guthrie (2009-10)
  3. Alyssa Koch (summer 2010)
  4. Ernest Puckett (summer 2010)
  5. Corbin Reagan (summer 2011)
  6. Britt Woodin (summer 2012)
  7. Kevin Warburton (summer 2013)
  8. Michael Morikone (summer 2014)
  9. Maria Sayago-Capielo (summer 2014)
  10. R. Gonzalo Garay-Romero (summer 2014)
  11. Shannon Fischer (summer 2015)
  12. Alex Drozda (fall 2015 – summer 2016)
  13. Trevor Craig (fall 2015)
  14. Nathan Mann (spring-summer 2016)
  15. Nathan Borcyk (2016-2018)
  16. Nick Nelson (summer 2017)
  17. Nathan Jensen (2017-2018)
  18. Victoria Nelson (2018-2019)
  19. Tyler Sherrill (summer 2019)
  20. John Lowery (summer 2019)
  21. Tyler Heiman (2019-21)
  22. Monica Bomze (summer 2021)
  23. John Cerny (2021-23, UCARE AY22-23)

  24. Isaac Regier (2021-23, UCARE AY22-23)

  25. Charles McCoy (2021-23, UCARE AY22-24)

  26. Simon Thengvall (2023-24, UCARE AY23-24)

  27. Lily Scholnik (summer 2023)

Postdoctoral researchers
Xiaoli Zhang, PhD
Mohsen Zahiri, PhD