I am a graduating Robotics Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University with a passion for creating novel robotic systems. As a member of the Robomechanics Lab, I have spent the past 5 years engaged in research with my advisor, Professor Aaron Johnson, to develop robotic climbing capabilities for space exploration and infrastructure inspection. Along the way I designed, built, and programmed a versatile new rock-climbing robot called LORIS from the ground up while integrating breakthroughs in underactuated mechanism design, force control, and autonomous motion planning. I also led a team of undergraduate and graduate students to develop Sally, a magnetic wall-climbing robot for steel structures.
My doctoral research was supported by a NASA-sponsored fellowship, which gave me the unique opportunity to collaborate with some of the amazing researchers at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I have greatly appreciated the chance to work with them on fascinating projects including ballistically launched multirotors, ice-climbing snake robots, and robotic manipulators for habitat construction on the moon.
I received my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, where I began my robotics research journey and where I created many of the hand-on engineering projects you can find on this website. In my free time I enjoy board games, sci-fi and fantasy novels, and playing the trombone.
I am currently exploring full-time robotics engineering opportunities in the California Bay Area. If you are interested in setting up a meeting, please reach out at pnadan@alumni.cmu.edu.