Julia Di
Artist & Engineer
Bio
I recently earned my PhD from the Biomimetic & Dexterous Manipulation Laboratory at Stanford University, advised by Mark Cutkosky, for research on optical sensing for visual and tactile perception. During my PhD I was supported by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship (for first try at the PhD), P.E.O. Scholarship, Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship, and the Future Space Leaders Foundation. I care about a great many things in life, including: robotic sensing, space exploration, art, climate change and conservation, and social impact.
In the past I have worked on NASA robots, an X-plane, and domestic robots; I've also done a few thru-hike sections (so far El Camino de Santiago and John Muir Trail), jumped out of a plane, and earned an open water dive license. I have been grateful for the recognition and support provided by the 2020 Interact Fellowship, 2019 Threshold Ventures Fellowship, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellowship, and 2017 AIAA 20 Twenties. I received my B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University in 2018, where I started the Columbia Space Initiative and was very active on campus as a student organization leader.
News
- 23 January 2025 | Link | Invited research talk at University of Michigan's Robot Studio.
- 20 November 2024 | Link | Successfully passed my PhD defense!
- 10 July 2024 | Link | Featured interview for Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI).
- 16 June 2024 | Link | Received Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Award from the Stanford Department of Mechanical Engineering.
More
- 5 June 2024 | Link here: Featured sensor demo for Stanford HAI at Five conference.
- 3 May 2024 | Link here: Selected as social media ambassador for ICRA 2024.
- 9 April 2024 | Link here: Interviewed about my research on TechXplore.
- 1 April 2024 | Link here: Awarded the full P.E.O. Scholarship after nomination.
- 1 March 2024 | Link here: Invited guest (fellowship awardee) to the AAS Goddard Memorial Symposium.
- 20 June 2023 | Link here: Selected as a Future Space Leader.
- 15 July 2020 | Link here: Interviewed for DiscoverPhDs!
- 12 July 2020 | Link here: Happy to have presented my retrospective on tactile sensing at RSS 2020 Workshop
- 29 July 2019 | Link here: Interviewed as a #STEMStory for Geeky Girl Reality!
Publications
Full list of publications on Google Scholar.
‡ indicates equal contribution.
Using Fiber Optic Bundles to Miniaturize Vision-based Tactile Sensors
Julia Di, Zdravko Dugonjic, Will Fu, Tingfan Wu, Romeo Mercado, Kevin Sawyer, Victoria Rose Most, Gregg Kammerer, Stefanie Speidel, Richard E Fan, Geoffrey Sonn, Mark R Cutkosky, Mike Lambeta, Roberto Calandra
IEEE Transactions on Robotics (2024)
Locomotion As Manipulation With ReachBot
Tony G. Chen, Stephanie Newdick, Julia Di, Carlo Bosio, Nitin Ongole, Mathieu Lapôtre, Marco Pavone, Mark R Cutkosky
Science Robotics (2024)
AstrobeeCD: Change detection in microgravity with free-flying robots
Holly Dinkel, Julia Di, Jamie Santos, Keenan Albee, Paulo VK Borges, Marina Moreira, Ryan Soussan, Oleg Alexandrov, Brian Coltin, Trey Smith
Acta Astronautica (2024)
A Skeleton-Based Approach For Rock Crack Detection Towards A Climbing Robot Application
Josselin Somerville Roberts, Paul-Emile Giacomelli, Yoni Gozlan, Julia Di
IEEE International Conference on Robotic Computing (2023)
Best Student Paper Award (as Supervisor)
A Multi-Axis FBG-Based Tactile Sensor for Gripping in Space
Samuel Frishman‡, Julia Di‡, Zulekha Karachiwalla, Richard J Black, Kian Moslehi, Trey Smith, Brian Coltin, Bijan Moslehi, Mark R Cutkosky
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (2021)
Resume
-
Stanford University November 2024Successful PhD Defense!
Optical Sensing of Physical Interaction: Visual and Tactile Perception. -
Curated Innovation March 2023Started IP Strategy Consulting
Led innovation sessions with many clients to identify potential patent solutions. -
Stanford University March 2023Returned Full-time to PhD
Rediscovered the passion for research. -
New York City Summer 2021Became a Stanford PhD Dropout
Stints in software engineering for a content marketing startup, community management for a meme-based edtech startup, project management for autonomous trucking, and product management for domestic robotics, among other hats I wore. -
Stanford University June 2020Masters Graduation
M.S. in Mechanical Engineering
Concentration: Robotics -
AIAA March 2020Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
Vice-Chair
Back to doing what I love most:
helping the next generation! -
Black Rock City August 2019Artist
Displayed art at Burning Man! -
Columbia University May 2018Bachelors Graduation (magna cum laude)
B.S. in Electrical Engineering
Minor: Computer Science -
NASA MSFC Summer 2016Research Associate,
Flight Robotics Laboratory
This was my first robotics internship! -
Columbia Space Initiative Sept. 27, 2015Co-Founder, Co-President
Started an organization that defined my college years
Projects
Some projects for fun.
A movement for marginalized genders in aerospace
An interactive light and sound architectural landscape installation
Organized Columbia's first student-run hackathon for under-represented students
Started an organization that sends things to space and teaches others
A movement for marginalized genders in aerospace
Organized Columbia's first student-run hackathon for under-represented students
Started an organization that sends things to space and teaches others
An interactive light and sound architectural landscape installation
A novice learns stained glass
Using generative adversarial networks to make art
An Open-Source Proprioceptive Robot for Studies in Machine Self-Awareness
A collection of 3D-printed art
Site Acknowledgements
Adapted with permission using Martin Saveski's website template, available at this GitHub repo, and with help from Steven V. Miller's blog. The light mode toggler was inspired by Cassidy Williams' website, with core implementation from developerdrive.com.
Things are a bit buggy because I'm not a web developer by trade, so apologies for any browsing issues! All opinions on this site are my own and do not reflect my employer.