Doctoral Defence of Zixuan Deng
- maryamborghei
- Sep 3
- 1 min read
Zixuan Deng defended his doctoral dissertation on Thursday, 4.9.2025, at Tampere University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences.
Title of the thesis: Light-Fueled Self-Sustained Soft Robotics
Opponent: Prof. Andreas Walther, University of Mainz, Germany.
Supervisor: Prof. Arri Priimägi, Tampere University
The summary of the thesis: In his doctoral dissertation, Zixuan Deng MSc (Tech) tackles the key barriers to achieving autonomous motion in light-driven soft materials. By exploring new actuation mechanisms, devising strategies for breaking spatial symmetry, and enhancing sensing capabilities for environmental adaptability, his work moves soft robotics closer to the life-like autonomy found in nature. These advances open fresh pathways for designing synthetic matter that can move, adapt, and interact with its surroundings without external control.
Read more at: Zixuan Deng: Bringing life-like motion and sensing to soft robots | Tampere universities
The thesis is available at: Light-Fueled Self-Sustained Soft Robotics - Trepo
