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Dr. Wei Wei (graduated June 2010)

Education:

  • 2005 to present: Ph.D. student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, U.S.
  • 2003 to 2005: Master of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Centre for Intelligent Machines, McGill University, Canada
  • Master Thesis Title: Type Synthesis and Kinematic Analysis of Translational Parallel Manipulators
  • 1999 to 2003: Bachelor of Engineering, Department of Precision Instruments and Mechanology, Tsinghua University, China

Research Interests:

  • Robotics in Medical Applications
  • Theory and Applications of Parallel Robots
  • Mechanism Synthesis

Projects:

  • Design, control and dexterity optimization of a dual-arm micro-surgical system for ophthalmic surgery.
  • Design of high precision parallel robots with guaranteed backlash prevention within a specified workspace.
  • Parallel Robot Design and Workspace Determinantion for Cochlear Implant Surgery.
  • Parallel Unit Development for Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) of the Throat and Upper Airways.

Former Research Work:

  • Analyzed inverse and direct kinematics of translational parallel manipulator (TPM) using line geometry elements and proposed a geometric approach for TPM kinematics.
  • Synthesized three-legged TPM architectures based on displacement group theory and explored the applicability of displacement subgroups in mechanism synthesis.
  • Investigated extreme distance between two spatial circles and its application on robotic manipulators.
  • Synthesized planar four-bar linkages in order to:
  • I. Replace a gear train to avoid backlash.
  • II. Trace a straight-line with a coupler point.

Teaching Assistant Experiences at McGill:

  • Winter 2005: MECH 261/262, Statistics and Measurement Lab.
  • Fall 2004: MECH 290, Graphcis II.
  • Winter 2004: MECH 261/262, Statistics and Measurement Lab.
  • Fall 2003: MECH 290, Graphcis II.

Publications:

Journal Papers

  1. Wei, W., Simaan, N., “Modeling, Force Sensing and Control of Flexible Cannulas for Micro-Stent Delivery,” submitted to IEEE Transactions on Robotics, under review, 2010.
  2. Wei, W., Popplewell, C., Fine, H., Chang, S., Simaan, N., “Enabling Technology for Micro-Vascular Stenting in Ophthalmic Surgery,” accepted for publication to ASME Journal of Medical Devices (JMED), accepted in January 2010.
  3. Fine, H. F., Wei, W., Goldman, R. E., Popplewell, C., Chang S., Simaan, N., “Design, Performance, and Potential Applications of a Novel Dual-Arm Robot for Ophthalmic Surgery,” to be submitted to Retina, 2010.
  4. Wei, W., Popplewell, C., Fine, H. F., Chang, S., Simaan, N., “Enabling Technology for Microvascular Stenting in Ophthalmic Surgery,” ASME Journal of Medical Devices, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 014503(1-6), 2010.
  5. Wei, W., Simaan N., “Design of Planar Parallel Robots with Preloaded Flexures for Guaranteed Backlash Prevention,” ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 011012(1-10), 2010.
  6. Zhang, J., Wei, W., Ding. J., Rolant, T.J., Manolidis, S., Simaan, N., “Inroads towards Robot-Assisted Cochlear Implant Surgery using Steerable Electrode Arrays”, accepted for publication in Otology  & Neurology special issue on Cochlear Implants, 2009.
  7. Simaan, N., Xu, K., Wei Wei, Kapoor, A., Kazanzides, P., Flint, P., Taylor, R., “Design and Integration of a Telerobotic System for Minimally Invasive Surgery of the Throat,” accepted for publication in the International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR) special issue on medical robotics, 2009. (First published online on published online on May 27th through IJRR OnlineFirst,  2009).
  8. Zhang, J., Wei, W., Roland, J., Manolidis, S., Simaan, N., “Optimal Path Planning for Robotic Insertion of Steerable Electrode Arrays in Cochlear Implant Surgery”, in ASME Journal on Medical Devices, Vol 3., No. 1, pp. 011001, 2009.
  9. Wei, W., Goldman, R., Fine, H., Chang, S., Simaan, N., Modeling and Performance Evaluation of Hybrid Multi-Arm Robots Operating on Hollow Suspended OrgansIEEE Transactions on Robotics, Vol 25, No. 1, pp. 147-157, 2009.
  10. Wei, W. and Pu, C., 2002, “A Research of Arc Welding Inverter with High Stable Precision,” China Welding, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 151-155.

Conference Papers

  1. Wei, W., Fine, H. F., Chang, S., Simaan, N., “A Pilot Study on Using a Flexible Cannula Robot for Micro-Vascular Stenting,” Accepted by International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA’10) Workshop, Alaska, USA, 2010.
  2. Fine, H. F., Wei, W., Goldman, R. E., Chang, S., Simaan, N., “Retinal Vascular Cannulation and Stent Deployment with a Novel Ophthalmic Microsurgical Robot,” American Academy of Ophthalmology, San Francisco, CA, Oct 2009.
  3. Wei, W., Goldman, R., Simaan, N., Fine, H., Chang, S., "Design and Theoretical Evaluation of Micro-Surgical Manipulators for Orbital Manipulation and Intraocular Dexterity,", International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 3389-3395 , 2007.
  4. Kapoor, A., Xu, K., Wei, W., Simaan, N., Taylor, R., “Telemanipulation of Snake-Like Robots for Minimally Invasive Surgery of the upper Airway”, MICCAI’2006 (9th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention), presented at the workshop on medical robotics, 2006.
  5. Wei, W., Xu, K., Simaan, N., “A Compact Two-armed Slave Manipulator for Minimally Invasive Surgery of the Throat,” BioRob’2006 (The first IEEE / RAS-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics), pp. 769-774, Pisa, Italy, 2006.
  6. Zhang, J., Wei, W., Roland, J., Manolidis, S., Simaan, N., “Path Planning and Workspace Determination for Robot-Assisted Insertion of Steerable Electrode Arrays for Cochlear Implant Surgery,” The 11th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI’2008), pp. 692-700, 2008.
  7. Wei, W. and Zsombor-Murray, P., 2004, “Translational Parallel Manipulator Kinematics Using Algebraic and Projective Line Geometry Elements,” Proceedings of the 2004 CCToMM Symposium, 2004 CSME Forum, June 1-4, London, Ontario, Canada, pp. 44-52.

Academic Recognitions:

  • Graduate Student Member of Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME), 2004-2005.
  • Graduate Student Member of Canadian Committee for the Theory of Machines and Mechanisms (CCToMM), 2004-2005.
  • Student Research Training (SRT) Researcher at Tsinghua University, China, 2001-2002.
  • Excellent Student Scholarships at Tsinghua University, 2000-2003.

Personal Interests:

  • Learning French and Spanish
  • Pop Music
  • Swimming, Jogging, Volleyball and Basketball