Jiefeng Sun

Jiefeng Sun serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering within Arizona State University's School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy. His research program centers on designing artificial-muscle-driven robots that replicate biological adaptivity through advanced modeling and control systems.

His academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Robotics and Control from Colorado State University (2022)
• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Dalian University of Technology (2017)
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Lanzhou University of Technology (2014)

Dr. Sun's research integrates soft robotics, artificial muscles, and adaptive control to create morphologically intelligent systems. His work spans aerial robotics, wearable exoskeletons, and biomimetic locomotion, with emphasis on shape-changing mechanisms and energy-efficient actuation that enables robots to operate in unstructured environments.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals dominant themes in twisted-and-coiled actuators, tensegrity structures, and physics-informed control methods. Key trends include variable-stiffness systems for wearable devices, data-efficient simulation techniques using Koopman operators, and bistable mechanisms for aerial grasping applications.

His research excellence has been recognized through:

• Finalist for Best Student Paper Award at IEEE/RSJ IROS 2018
• Reviewer of the Year 2021 for Smart Materials and Structures Journal
• 2022 DARPA Riser designation

Dr. Sun actively recruits graduate students for robotics research and has secured significant funding including DARPA support. He teaches core courses including System Dynamics and Control I (MAE 318) while supervising thesis research and applied projects through MAE 599 and MAE 792.

He directs the Sun Robotics Lab (https://sunroboticslab.github.io), which collaborates across biomechanics, materials science, and control theory to develop next-generation adaptive robotic systems with applications in healthcare, exploration, and human augmentation.