Victoria Webster-Wood
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Courtesy Appointment, Biomedical Engineering
Victoria Webster-Wood received her B.S. in 2012, M.S. in 2013, and Ph.D. in 2017 in Mechanical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, receiving graduate support as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and GAANN Fellow in the Biologically Inspired Robotics Lab. She subsequently completed her postdoctoral training as a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow in the Tissue Fabrication and Mechanobiology Lab at the same institution.
Upon joining Carnegie Mellon University, she established the CMU Biohybrid and Organic Robotics Group (B.O.R.G). The B.O.R.G.’s research focuses on the use of organic materials as structures, actuators, sensors, and controllers toward the development of biohybrid and organic robots and biohybrid prosthetics.
Using Organic Materials in Robotic Systems
Education
2017 Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
2013 MS, Mechanical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
2012 BS, Mechanical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
Media mentions
CMU Engineering
Multi-university team building actuators for next gen bio-bots
Multi-university team, led by Mechanical Engineering’s Vickie Webster-Wood, is building actuators for next generation sustainable bio-bots.
CMU Engineering
Hydrogels pave way for future of soft robotics
Wenhuan Sun, Victoria Webster-Wood, and Adam Feinberg have created an open-source, commercially available fiber extruder to benefit future research with hydrogels and soft robotics.
ICRA 2022
CMU team wins big at robotics conference
MechE’s Victoria Webster-Wood and her team took home a prize for their paper at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.
IEEE Spectrum
Bergbreiter, Majidi, and Webster-Wood featured in IEEE Spectrum
MechE’s Carmel Majidi, Sarah Bergbreiter, and Victoria Webster-Wood were featured on IEEE Spectrum, discussing softbotics.
CMU Engineering
Tuning synthetic collagen threads for biohybrid robots
Researchers in Victoria Webster-Wood’s Biohybrid and Organic Robotics Group are using techniques from tissue engineering to refine tendon-like collagen threads for a new generation of robots.
Mechanical Engineering
Biomechanics for teens
National Biomechanics Day is a worldwide celebration that strives to bring the complex world of biomechanics to high school students through hands-on activities, demonstrations, and Q&A sessions with real-world professionals.
CMU Engineering
NSF CAREER grants awarded to engineering faculty
Four engineering faculty received NSF CAREER awards to support their education and research goals.
CMU Engineering
Sea slugs to provide clues in understanding the brain
As the co-principal investigator on an NSF NeuroNex project, Victoria Webster-Wood will investigate the impact of neuromodulators on muscle actuation and modeling biological motor control in engineering frameworks.
Mechanical Engineering
Reassess, recalibrate, and transform
Mechanical Engineering students and faculty adapted with innovation and agility to finish the spring 2020 semester during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mechanical Engineering
We have a Wimmer
As a 2020-2021 Wimmer Faculty Fellow, Victoria Webster-Wood plans to design interactive demonstrations and to build virtual labs for the course “Gadgetry: Sensors, Actuators, and Processors.”
Webster-Wood named Wimmer Faculty Fellow
MechE’s Vickie Webster-Wood has been named a 2020-2021 Wimmer Faculty Fellow. The fellowship is designed for junior faculty members interested in enhancing their teaching through concentrated work.
Future Tech Podcast
Webster-Wood on biohybrid and organic robotics research
MechE’s Victoria Webster-Wood was a guest on the Future Tech Podcast and discussed her research in developing biohybrid and organic robots. Webster-Wood describes how she and her lab are integrating muscle and neurologic tissue of animals into robots.