Liwei Lin

Professor; James Marshall Wells Academic Chair in Mechanical Engineering

Dept of Mechanical Engineering

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(510) 643-5495

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Research Bio

Liwei Lin is a pioneering researcher in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), whose work has significantly advanced the design and manufacturing of tiny sensors and actuators used in medical devices, consumer electronics, and energy systems. His research bridges mechanical engineering and nanotechnology to create devices that interface the physical and digital worlds at microscopic scales. Lin has made foundational contributions to the fabrication of microscale structures using techniques such as silicon surface/bulk micromachining and micro molding processes.

Best known for developing innovative MEMS-based energy harvesters and biomedical sensors, Lin’s work enables self-powered devices and point-of-care diagnostic tools. His research has facilitated breakthroughs in wearable technologies, implantable sensors, and sustainable microsystems.

An expert in micro/nanofabrication and MEMS design, Lin is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He also serves as Co-Director of the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, a leading research consortium in MEMS innovation. Lin is a Fellow of the ASME and has received numerous honors for his scholarly impact, including the NSF CAREER Award and multiple Best Paper Awards from international conferences.

Research Expertise and Interest

nanotechnology, MEMS (microelectromechanical systems), NEMS (nanoelectromechanical systems), design and manufacturing of microsensors, microactuators, development of micromachining processes, silicon surface/bulk micromachining, micromolding process

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A small metallic robot, about the size of a cockroach, sits on a pile of small bricks.

Insect-sized robot navigates mazes with the agility of a cheetah

Many insects and spiders get their uncanny ability to scurry up walls and walk upside down on ceilings with the help of specialized sticky footpads that allow them to adhere to surfaces in places where no human would dare to go. Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have used the principle behind these some of these footpads, called electrostatic adhesion, to create an insect-scale robot that can swerve and pivot with the agility of a cheetah, giving it the ability to traverse complex terrain and quickly avoid unexpected obstacles.

A photo of the small robot, which looks like a thin piece of metal, with a quarter for scale.

You can’t squash this roach-inspired robot

If the sight of a skittering bug makes you squirm, you may want to look away — a new insect-sized robot created by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, can scurry across the floor at nearly the speed of a darting cockroach.

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New fiber nanogenerators could lead to electric clothing

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Featured in the Media

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positions of UC Berkeley.

August 1, 2019

Berkeley researchers create cockroach-inspired robots

Slash Gear

Shane McGlaun

A team of Berkeley researchers has developed a skittering robot that's modeled on a cockroach. Like the insect, it's tiny, fast, and can survive attempts to squish it. "Most of the robots at this particular small scale are very fragile," says mechanical engineering professor Liwei Lin, the senior author of the study. "If you step on them, you pretty much destroy the robot. ... We found that if we put weight on our robot, it still more or less functions." The ultimate goal for such robots is to put them to work on search and rescue missions in places where dogs or humans either can't fit, or where it may be too dangerous for them to go, says first author Yichuan Wu, who was a mechanical engineering graduate student working on the project through a partnership with the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute. "For example, if an earthquake happens, it's very hard for the big machines, or the big dogs, to find life underneath debris, so that's why we need a small-sized robot that is agile and robust," he says. Link to video. For more on this, see our press release at Berkeley News. Another story on this topic appeared in One News Page (UPI).

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