In September 2023, I will start a new research group Soft Robotics for Autonomous Systems at the University of Stuttgart. In my research group I will use a combination of  theoretical and experimental tools from mechanics, physics, and materials science to study nonlinear phenomena found in soft systems with the goal to devise new intelligent soft robotic systems and smart structures. The outcome of this research has the potential to drastically improve the performance of soft autonomous systems and to enable autonomous systems with entirely new functions. 

I am hiring PhD students and postdocs. Interesting candidates, please visit my personal homepage: www.rothemund-research.com

Prof. Philipp Rothemund joined the Robotic Materials Department in 2020 as a postdoctoral researcher. His research focus on developing a theoretical framework for the electromechanical behavior of electrohydraulic soft systems and improving their performance. In May 2023, He was appointed Tenure-Track Professor at the University of Stuttgart. As part of his research, Philipp derives analytical models and creates numerical models for electrohydraulic soft actuators. Based on these models, he creates new material systems, which drastically improve the performance of these actuators. Philipp’s research interests include nonlinear continuum mechanics, materials science, soft robotics, electroactive polymers, renewable energy sources, and energy harvesting.

Before joining the Robotic Materials Department, Philipp worked from 2019 to 2020 as a postdoctoral fellow in the Keplinger Research Group at the University of Colorado Boulder. In 2018, he received a Ph. D. in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University, where he also received a M. S. in Engineering Sciences in 2014. Philipp conducted his graduate research on the mechanics of Soft Actuators under the Supervision of Prof. Zhigang Suo and Prof. George M. Whitesides. Philipp also earned a M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich in 2012 and 2009, respectively. 
 

Curriculum Vitae