We are happy to announce that our academic family expanded quite a bit over the past days. Jessica flew back to Leibniz University Hannover in Germany for three PhD defenses. All three doctoral research assistants have been members of our parent laboratory and now graduated with a Doctoral Degree in Engineering from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

Welcome to the family:

  • Dr. Bastian Deutschmann: Modeling and Control for a Class of Tendon-driven Continuum Mechanisms
  • Dr. Ernar Amanov: Designing a Robotic Port System for Laparo-endoscopic Single-Site Surgery
  • Dr. Josephine Granna: Multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization for the Structural Design of Concentric Tube Continuum Robots for Medical Applications


  • Dr. Bastian Deutschmann with his Doctoral Thesis Committee: Dr. Christian Ott, Professor Annika Raatz, Professor Eduard Reithmeier, and Professor Jessica Burgner-Kahrs.

  • Dr. Ernar Amanov with his Doctoral Thesis Committee: Professor Roland Scharf, Professor Annika Raatz, Professor Jessica Burgner-Kahrs, and PD Florian Imkamp.

  • Dr. Josephine Granna with her Doctoral Thesis Committee: Professor Gerhard Poll, Professor Jessica Burgner-Kahrs, and Professor Jörn Ostermann.

Their research on continuum mechanisms and surgical continuum robots mark significant contributions to the field. We look forward to see how their careers unfold and are proud to welcome you to our academic family!

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders [...] of Giants.

Isaac Newton

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