Project Mentor: Prof. Ebru Demir & Prof. A. Emrah Bayrak, Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics
**New Project for 2026**
Project Description:
How can we use machine learning to reveal swimming gaits that make microswimmers faster, more efficient, and more adaptable?
This project focuses on the development of a robot endowed with reinforcement learning to create a smart artificial microswimmer capable of moving in highly viscous (inertia free) fluid environments and making control decisions. These robots will inform the optimal design and control of artificial microswimmers in complex fluid environments such as bodily fluids for biomedical applications including but not limited to drug delivery. Students will gain hands-on experience in building mechatronic systems, developing machine learning algorithms, image processing, data collection and interpretation, validating experimental results using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models, scientific writing and communication.
