Robotics, Mechatronics, and Controls

professor taeyoung lee in with equipment

Chuchu Chen

Assistant Professor

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
Email: chuchu [dot] chengwu [dot] edu (chuchu[dot]chen[at]gwu[dot]edu)
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Research Interest: Professor Chuchu Chen directs the EPIC Lab (Estimation, Perception, and Intelligent Computing). Her research addresses a central challenge in Physical AI: enabling intelligent systems to navigate and understand complex environments over long durations using onboard sensing. A central focus of her work is developing real-time estimation and perception frameworks that maintain stability under uncertainty, physical constraints, and contact-rich interaction with humans and surrounding objects. Key research interests include multimodal perception, 3D scene understanding, spatial intelligence, structured world modeling for physical interaction, and embodied intelligence for long-horizon and generalizable behaviors. Her work spans applications from robotics and autonomous driving to XR/VR systems, with an emphasis on lightweight and resource-efficient intelligent architectures.

James Lee

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
Phone: (202) 994-5971
Email: jdleegwu [dot] edu (jdlee[at]gwu[dot]edu)
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Research Interest: Professor James Lee and his research group conduct theoretical, analytical, and numerical research in molecular dynamics simulation, multiple length/time scale modeling, thermomechanical-electromagnetic coupling phenomena, mixture theory, and nonlocal theory. His current research interests include multiscale modeling of multi-physics for nano/micro material systems, mixture theory for mechanobiology, nonlocal theory and material force for fracture mechanics, and advanced finite element analysis of thermomechanical-electromagnetic coupling phenomena, especially for shape memory materials and electro active polymer.

Taeyoung Lee

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Phone: (202) 994-8710
Email: tyleegwu [dot] edu (tylee[at]gwu[dot]edu)
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Research Interest: Professor Taeyoung Lee's Flight Dynamics and Control Lab conducts theoretical, computational, and experimental research in nonlinear dynamics and control for complex aerospace systems. Current projects include geometric control for complex maneuvers of unmanned aerial vehicles, vision-based formation control of spacecraft, computational geometric uncertainty propagation for Hamiltonian systems on a Lie group, relative orbit estimation based on line-of-sight measurements, agile load transportation with dynamically-coupled quadrotor aerial vehicles, and orbital maneuvering for nano satellites with micro-cathode thrusters.

Laura Stegner

Assistant Professor

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Email: laura [dot] stegner

gwu [dot] edu (laura[dot]stegner[at]gwu[dot]edu)
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Research Interest: Professor Laura Stegner directs the SMIDR Lab (Systems and Methods for Intuitive Design of Robots Lab). Her research sits at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction, Robotics, and Healthcare, focusing on designing intelligent systems that support complex tasks in dynamic environments. Dr. Stegner’s work addresses the ecological challenges of integrating robots into daily workflows, with a current focus on healthcare and assisted living settings. Her approach employs a mix of ethnographic, qualitative, quantitative, and technical methods to align autonomous behaviors with user expectations and needs. By developing intuitive end-user interfaces, she enables non-experts to effectively communicate intent and manage robots in real-world settings. Ultimately, she aims to build interactive systems that work in harmony with humans to address evolving societal challenges.

Peng Wei

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Email: pweigwu [dot] edu (pwei[at]gwu[dot]edu)
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Research Interest: By contributing to the intersection of control, optimization, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, Dr. Wei develops autonomy and human-in-the-loop decision making systems for aeronautics, aviation and aerial robotics. His current focus is on safety, efficiency, and scalability for decision making in uncertain and dynamic environments. Recent applications include: air traffic control/management, airline operations, UAS traffic management, eVTOL urban air mobility, and autonomous drone racing. Dr. Wei leads the Intelligent Aerospace Systems Lab (IASL).