Utku has received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bilkent University, Turkey from the Computer Engineering Department. He started his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in ETH-Zurich, Switzerland and then moved to the University of Cambridge, UK to help establish the Bio-Inspired Robotics Laboratory. After completing his Ph.D. in the design and control of physically adaptive soft robots, Utku joined the Physical Intelligence Department at the Max-Planck Institute (MPI) for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany. Combining fellowships from the Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, he worked on the control of small scale soft robots, statistical machine learning on physical systems, and the control of self-assembling robotic elements. Utku joined the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) as the Chief of Science in April 2021. Here, Utku coordinates the joint research efforts of multiple departments and research laboratories on the human-centered robotics and machine intelligence for the future of work, health, mobility, and environment. Utku is also a principal investigator and leader in multiple national and internationally funded robotics research projects.

I was born in Istanbul, Turkey and raised in Ankara where I completed most of my education (from elementary to masters of science). Being raised in the ’80 and ’90s, my imagination was shaped by watching sci-fi movies involving a lot of robots and building the things I see with K’nex and Legos. Following the dream to work for Lucas Arts and develop games, I started studying Computer Engineering at Bilkent University. I quickly realized that robotics is a much more interesting path for me and started working with Prof. Uluc Saranli on rigid body dynamics in my 2nd year. During my undergraduate studies, I focused on embedded programming, electronics design, feedback control, physics modeling, and simulation. After graduation, I co-founded a spin-off company producing medical products and robotic arcade games. At the same time, I started my master’s program in Computer Engineering at Bilkent University and explored image analysis, pattern recognition, and machine learning. To expand my skills, I visited the NanoRobotics Lab at Carnegie Mellon University and worked on an amphibious robot design for 6 months. I joined Prof. Fumiya Iida‘s group at ETH – Zürich as a Ph.D. candidate at the Mechanical and Process Engineering. There, I was introduced to the new soft robotics field. Here, I learned materials physics, fast-prototyping methods, and bio-inspired robot designs. In 2014, we moved our research group to the University of Cambridge. There, we started experimenting with soft robotic manipulators in agricultural tasks. After receiving my doctoral degree, I joined the Physical Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany in November 2016. In 2018, I received the Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Until April 2021, I worked with Prof. Metin Sitti on developing self-assembling soft robots and machine-learning methods to find unprecedented soft robotic functions and designs. In April 2021, I started as the chief of science at the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence of the Technical University of Munich. We are working with Prof. Sami Haddadin (acting director), 60+ professors who are the pioneers of their fields (see the full list here), and an amazing team of scientists on a wide range of fundamental and applied robotics topics.

I have always been interested in arts and music since childhood. I have been involved in many music bands as a guitarist and a vocal since high school and played a wide range of genres from heavy metal, folk to blues. I am still playing and singing whenever possible. I was lucky to have artsy parents and relatives that guided my art appreciation. I have been producing the technical and scientific illustrations in my research articles and now I am currently experimenting with geometrical designs in art and architecture. I really enjoy reading philosophy and history. I find everything related with deep-space exciting. I also practice nomadic archery. You can find more of these on my Personal page.