Joel Burdick

Joel Burdick is a Professor at the California Institute of Technology in the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, with affiliate appointments in Control & Dynamical Systems, Computation & Neural Systems, Medical Engineering, and BioEngineering. He leads the Burdick Research Group, which specializes in robotics and spinal cord injury therapy. His academic responsibilities include teaching courses such as CS/EE/ME 75 (Intro to Robotics) and ME 115 (Kinematics and Robotics).

His research bridges traditional robotics and neuroengineering, focusing on technologies for paralyzed nervous systems. Key projects include: DARPA Subterranean Challenge (Team CoSTAR), SQUID self-unfolding drones, preference-based learning for exoskeleton personalization, Axel/DuAxel rovers for extreme-terrain planetary exploration, and locomotion rehabilitation for spinal cord injury patients through UCLA collaborations. His work emphasizes autonomous systems, neural interfaces, and rehabilitation robotics.

Professor Burdick advises 12 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. His laboratory develops novel mobility mechanisms, motion planning algorithms, and neural decoding technologies. The group maintains active collaborations with NASA/JPL, UCLA, and other institutions to advance robotic exploration and medical rehabilitation.