Michelle Rosen

Dr. Michelle Rosen

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

New York, NY

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering| The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Address

New York, NY

What I Do

I'm an assistant professor in mechanical engineering. I teach the next generation of students how to be the best mechanical engineers they can be. I conduct research in bio-inspired robotics, including flapping-wing vehicles and soft robots.
Why Engineering?

I'm fascinated by the way the world works, especially in the way things move. This brought me to the mechanical side of robotics and mechanisms.
School Days

I have my BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park and my MS and PhD from Harvard University.

For as long as I can remember, I loved anything to do with science and engineering. When I played with K'Nex (my favorite toy!) I only ever built things with moving parts. By high school, I knew that I wanted to be an engineer. I am currently an assistant of mechanical engineering at the Cooper Union. I teach classes in design, dynamics, and robotics and run a research group focused on bio-inspired robotic design, espeically flapping-wing and soft robots. Previously, I was a lecturer in mechanical engineering design at Harvard University, where I taught the introductory mechanical engineering course and the senior design class. I earned my PhD at Harvard in the Microrobotics Lab (micro.seas.harvard.edu). My research is focused on intermittent flight (alternating flapping and gliding) in a 3 gram, meso-scale vehicle. I am involved in fabrication, testing (both in a low-speed wind tunnel and in a motion capture arena), and simulation. I also served as the Outreach Coordinator for the Microrobotics Lab. I organized and participated in many events in the community, including the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, DC, several local summer camp visits, and local science and tech festivals. I really enjoy getting to share the research being done in our lab and getting to see that other people find it as fascinating as I do! I'm particularly passionate about outreach to girls in the community. I earned my BS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland in 2012. While there, I conducted research on facial and expression recognition using computer vision and on gliding microrobots. When I'm not in the lab or the classroom, I play the flute and piccolo and love to cook!