Taskin Padir
Director, Institute for Experiential Robotics
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Affiliated Faculty, Bioengineering
Affiliated Faculty, Roux Institute
Affiliated Faculty, Institute for Experiential AI
Affiliated Faculty, Global Resilience Institute
Office
- 511 ISEC
- 617.373.8114
Related Links
Research Focus
Experiential robotics, human-robot teaming at the extremes, embodied artificial intelligence
Education
- PhD (2004), Purdue University, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- MS (1997), Purdue University, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- BS (1993), Middle East Technical University, Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Honors & Awards
- 2023 Impact Award
- 2022 Amazon Scholar
- 2022 Faculty Research Team Award
- Kalenian Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit
- HEART: Humans Empowered with Assistive Robot Technologies
- Romeo L. Moruzzi Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education
Leadership Positions
- Executive Committee of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division of the American Nuclear Society
- Editor, International Conference in Robotics and Automation
Professional Affiliations
- IEEE
- Robotics and Automation
- Control Systems
- Systems, Man and Cybernetics
- Computer; Engineering in Medicine and Biology
- Education Societies
- The American Society for Engineering Education
- Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International
- Sigma Xi
Research Overview
Experiential robotics, human-robot teaming at the extremes, embodied artificial intelligence

Robotics and Intelligent Vehicles Research Laboratory
The Robotics and Intelligent Vehicles Research Laboratory (RIVeR Lab) at Northeastern University, originally founded in 2010 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, aims to advance the capabilities of autonomous robots and intelligent vehicles. Research activities focus on design, analysis, implementation and control of intelligent vehicles, mobile robots, walking robots, manipulators and adaptive systems. Aligned with Northeastern University core values of contribution, diversity, engagement, integrity, and opportunity, our projects bring science and technology together with real-world problems.
Selected Research Projects
- Co-worker Robots to Impact Seafood Processing (CRISP): Designs, Tools and Methods for Enhanced Worker Experience
- – Principal Investigator, NSF Future of Work, Human-Technology Frontier
- Automation for Characterization and Evaluation of Personal Protective Equipment in Manufacturing Plants
- – Principal Investigator, ARM Institute (DoD)
- Coordination of Dyadic Object Handover for Human-Robot Interactions
- – Co-Principal Investigator, NSF M3X
Research Centers and Institutes
Director
Institute for Experiential Robotics
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- M. Wonsick and T. Padır, “Human-Humanoid Robot Interaction through Virtual Reality Interfaces,” 2021 IEEE Aerospace Conference (50100), 2021, pp. 1-7, doi: 10.1109/AERO50100.2021.9438400.
- Wonsick, Murphy, Philip Long, Aykut Onol, Maozhen Wang, and Taskin Padir. “A Holistic Approach to Human-Supervised Humanoid Robot Operations in Extreme Environments.” Frontiers in Robotics and AI 8 (2021): 148.
- A. Ö. Önol, R. Corcodel, P. Long and T. Padır, “Tuning-Free Contact-Implicit Trajectory Optimization,” 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2020, pp. 1183-1189, doi: 10.1109/ICRA40945.2020.9196805.

Sep 01, 2023
India’s landing on the dark side of the moon is cheered, now comes the hard part of space exploration
After India’s successful moon landing, ECE Professors Hanumant Singh and Taskin Padir are excited to see what the future holds for lunar exploration and what role robots will play.

May 01, 2023
Discovering a Passion for Robotics through Research
Serena Lin, computer engineering, participated in the UPLIFT (Undergraduate Program for Leaders in Future Transformation Program) where she started research in her first semester as an undergraduate. With a variety of hands-on research experiences, including an NSF REU and working at the Institute for Experiential Robotics, Lin found her passion in robotics.
Jan 25, 2023
Announcing Spring 2023 PEAK Experiences Awardees
Several engineering students and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of Northeastern’s Spring 2023 PEAK Experiences Awards. Base Camp Awardees Sophia Nguyen COE’26, “Neuromodulation of Motor Cortex’s Response to Different Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Pulse Waveforms” Mentor: Mathew Yarossi, Bouvé, Physical Therapy/Movement/Rehab Science This project seeks to use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a noninvasive […]
Jan 24, 2023
Faculty and Staff Awards 2023
Congratulations to all the winners of the faculty and staff awards, and to everyone for their hard work and dedication during the 2022-2023 academic school year. COE Distinguished Faculty Award Yun Raymond Fu, ECE Auroop Ganguly, CEE Luke Landherr, ChE Sinan Müftü, MIE Mark Niedre, BioE Alison Nogueira, Co-op Nian Sun, ECE Constantinos Mavroidis Translational […]

Dec 20, 2022
Rover Team Prepares for Next Competition
After competing at the global Mars Society’s University Rover Challenge earlier this year, the Northeastern Mars Rover Team, advised by MIE Assistant Professor Peter Whitney, is gearing up for next year’s competition.

Dec 19, 2022
Robot Created by Northeastern University Allows a Person to Control, Feel from a Distance
ECE Professor Taskin Padir and the Institute for Experiential Robotics were featured in the CBS News article and interview “Robot created by Northeastern University allows a person to control, feel from a distance.”

Nov 08, 2022
Northeastern Robotics Team Wins $1M for Third-place Finish in Global Competition
Team Northeastern won $1 million in third place among 17 finalists from around the globe in the ANA Avatar XPrize robotics competition.

Oct 26, 2022
Seeing Code in Real Life: A Co-op Journey into Robotics
Computer Engineering student Joseph Berman has taken advantage of Northeastern’s experiential learning opportunities. After completing a co-op at Amazon Robotics, he worked in the robotics lab of Associate Professor Taskin Padir, who is also director of the Institute of Experiential Robotics. He is now on co-op in Japan working at Mujin, a startup based in Tokyo with additional branches in Georgia and China. Mujin creates software for industrial robots controlled by a central artificial intelligence hub.
Oct 07, 2022
Announcing Fall 2022 PEAK Experiences Awardees
Several engineering students and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of Northeastern’s Fall 2022 PEAK Experiences Awards. This extraordinary group of students is taking on a range of exciting projects, from exploring axolotl limb regeneration to building a snake-inspired robot to understanding accessibility on Broadway. ASCENT AWARDS Justin Almendral COE’24, “Wearable Art” Mentor: […]

Jul 13, 2022
BioE Alum Wins 2022 Innovator Award
Bioengineering alumna Samantha Johnson, E’21, ME’21, was the first place winner of the 2022 Innovator Awards given out by Northeastern’s Women Who Empower in the young alumnae graduate category, which she will use to develop a robotic arm that can sign in ASL.