Steven Wiederman

Associate Professor Steven Wiederman holds the position of Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Adelaide. He leads the Visual Physiology & Neurobotics Laboratory within the School of Biomedicine. His research focuses on understanding visual processing in insects, particularly dragonflies, and translating these insights into applications for autonomous robotics and neuro-inspired systems. Key areas include target detection, optic flow processing, and selective attention mechanisms in biological systems.

His interdisciplinary work combines electrophysiological techniques, computational modeling, and robotics engineering. Current projects explore how dragonfly neurons enable precise tracking of moving targets amidst clutter, with applications in developing advanced vision systems for drones and robots. He has secured significant funding through ARC fellowships and industry partnerships, including projects on neuro-inspired deep learning for defense applications.

Academic achievements include an ARC DECRA Fellowship (2011–2015) and an ARC Future Fellowship (2016–2020). He is a member of the ARC College of Experts and actively supervises PhD and Master’s students in neuroscience, robotics, and computational biology. His lab collaborates with engineers and computer scientists to bridge biological insights with technological innovation.

Publications highlight breakthroughs in understanding neuronal mechanisms underlying predictive vision, selective attention, and adaptive processing in dragonfly visual systems. Media coverage includes features in Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Science Daily, emphasizing the potential of insect-inspired solutions for future technologies.