I appreciate your interest in my research and, eventually, joining my group for earning your MS/Ph.D. degree. I provide here some answers to frequently asked questions.
Q1. What kind of research are you doing?
A1. The current research is to design, manufacture and evaluate the performance of innovative robotic devices for various applications, in particular, minimally invasive surgical operations and neurosurgery. I’m also interested in haptics, bio-inspired flying robots and soft robotics.
Although not required, necessary academic backgrounds for doing research in my group are Mechanics (both Solid & Fluid), Dynamics and/or Control. Those who have experiences on Mechatronics (Arduino, Phidgets, and so on), CAD (SoildWorks), and/or Finite-Element-Analysis (ANSYS, ABAQUS, and so on) are preferred.
Q2. What is your advising style?
A2.1. (To graduate student) My goal as an advisor is to foster young scientific engineers who can independently solve an interesting and challenging engineering problem and become the next generation in R&D and academia. I strongly believe that this goal can be achieved by 1) providing students with challenging projects, 2) delivering them clarifying and probing questions on time and 3) helping them answer the questions by themselves. It is developmental rather than prescriptive although a little bit combined and depending on the student’s personality.
A2.2. (To TAMU undergraduate student) Undergraduate students will work for one or two graduate student(s) in my group, graduate mentor(s). MEEN 485/491H credits are available but at least two consecutive semesters of active involvement is requested. With sufficient contribution, you will become a co-author of the research paper led by your graduate mentor. My group needs many undergraduate researchers with a strong background in Dynamics, Control, Fluid Mechanics, Solid Mechanics, Programming using C++ and/or Java, Hands-on machining, Mechatronics such as Arduino, Raspberry PI and Phidgets, CAD design (SolidWorks), and/or 3D printing.
Q3. Are you considering new graduate students this semester?
A3. Because of my advising style, I spend a lot of time with each of my students. For example, at least, two meetings per week is requested in my group, in which a graduate student should discuss with me about the progress and status of her/his research. For a special occasion, there will be additional meeting(s) and therefore I must limit the group size, less than five to six graduate students at present. However, because a few students drop out of or dismissed from the group, due to poor performance and/or inappropriate behavior, and the other students are graduating, I’m always considering new students.
Q4. I’m not a student at TAMU and interested in your group for my graduate research. How can I get admitted and join your group?
A4. In the Mechanical Engineering at TAMU, admissions are done by committee. Although you can introduce yourself and ask about my current research topics, there is nothing that I can tell you regarding your chance to join us. However, if you already obtained a multi-year fellowship, it may help you to get admitted and join my group at TAMU because it means you have the potential.
Q5. I’m admitted to TAMU and interested in your group. How can I join your group?
A5. I won’t officially hire a student until she/he proves the academic and research abilities under my supervision within one year, as well as a good personality. Even if all are satisfied, officially hiring her/him as my student depends on the available funding sources. Keeping this in your mind, if you are confident and ambitious for quality research in Robotics, please make an appointment for a meeting with me via email (scryu@tamu.edu). Don’t forget to include your research interests, academic backgrounds, and career goal in detail with your latest CV and prestigious journal/conference publication as the main author, if any. Before the meeting, I recommend you to visit my group in Doherty 210, meet my current graduate students and discuss with them about their research topics.