Harry Asada

Background and Education

H. Harry Asada is Ford Professor of Engineering and Director of the Brit and Alex d’Arbeloff Laboratory for Information Systems and Technology in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in precision engineering in 1973, 1975, and 1979, respectively, all from Kyoto University, Japan. He specializes in robotics, biological engineering, and system dynamics and control. His current research includes precise, global linearization of nonlinear systems, wearable extra legs, arms, and fingers, underwater robots, bio-artificial muscles, optogenetic control, computational modeling of cell migration and emergent behaviors. He received the Rufus Oldenburger Medal from ASME in 2011. He won the Best Paper Awards at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in 1993, 1997, 1999, and 2010, the O. Hugo Schuck Best Paper Award from the American Control Council in 1985, Best Journal Paper Awards from the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers in 1979, 1984, and 1990, and the Henry Paynter Outstanding Researcher Award from ASME Dynamic Systems and Control in 1998. He also received the Spira Award for Distinguished Teaching from the School of Engineering, MIT. Dr. Asada is a Fellow of ASME.

Awards and Honors

• Rufus T. Oldenburger Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineering | 2012
• Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Distinguished Teaching, School of Engineering, MIT | 2012
• Best Paper Award, 2010 IFAC Symposium on Mechatronic Systems | 2012
• Best Automation Paper Award, 2010 IEEE Int. Conference on Robotics and Automation | 2010
• Best Paper Award, Society of Instrument and Control Engineers | 1979, 1984, 1990
• SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award | 1984
• O. Hugo Schuck Best Paper Award, American Control Council | 1985
• Y. Sawaragi Best Paper Award, JACE | 1988
• Best Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation | 1993
• Best Paper Award, 1995 ASME Heat Pump Symposium | 1995
• Kayamori Best Paper Award, IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation | 1997
• Dynamic Systems and Control Outstanding Researcher Award, ASME | 1998
• Best Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation | 1999
• ASME Fellow, Dynamic Systems and Control Division | 2001
• Best Journal Paper Award, Advanced Robotics | 2002
• Plenary Lecture, “Wet Mechatronics”, IFAC Conference on Mechatronics | 2003
• Plenary Lecture, “Organic Robotics”, RSJ Annual Conference | 2006