Humphrey Yang

Ph.D., Human-Computer Interaction

Postdoctoral Research Associate, BORG, CMU

humphrey8066@gmail.com

LinkedIn | Google Scholar | CV

Interests & Skills

• Computational Design

• Digital Fabrication

• Robotics (Biohybrid & Compliant Mechanisms)

• Human-AI Collaborative Design Tools

• Machine Learning & Generative AI

• Physical AI

I earned my Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) from the Morphing Matter Lab and the Augmented Design Capability Studio at School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), advised by Prof. Lining Yao and Prof. Nikolas Martelaro. Prior to that, I received a Master of Science degree in Computational Design (MSCD) from CMU and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan.

I am an Experimental–computational engineer–scientist building bio-inspired, adaptive robots and interfaces from the materials → mechanisms → systems level. I merge human-in-the-loop and automated design tools with computational design + digital fabrication to move early concepts → validated prototypes quickly. My work integrates synthetic & biological components, spans simulation, control, and metrology, and ships through an end-to-end toolchain tuned for robotics, interfaces, and adaptive structures.

I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Biohybrid and Organic Robotics Group (BORG), Carnegie Mellon University, where I work on biohybrid robotic systems, biofabrication, and computational design of bio-driven devices.

Modular Assembly of Biohybrid Machines Using Force-Enhanced Skeletal Muscle Actuators

Humphrey Yang, Avery Williamson, Ji Min Seok, Daniel Ranke, Michelle Min Shuen Tan, Duncan McGee, Kiyn Chin, Dinesh Patel, Emily Trotto, Adam Feinberg, Tzahi Cohen-Karni, Victoria Webster-Wood

2026 Ongoing Submission

Project Page | Preprint

CompAct: Designing Interconnected Compliant Mechanisms with Targeted Actuation Transmissions 

Humphrey Yang, I-Chao Shen, Nikolas Martelaro, Bo Zhu, Haoran Xie, Takeo Igarashi, Lining Yao

2025 ACM CHI

Project Page | PDF | Video

A compliant metastructure design with reconfigurability up to six degrees of freedom

Humphrey Yang, Dinesh K. Patel, Tate Johnson, Ke Zhong, Gina Olson, Carmel Majidi, Mohammad Islam, Teng Zhang, Lining Yao 

2025 Nature Communications 

Project Page | PDF

Dancing Delicacies: Exploring Dynamic Trajectories through Designing Computational Food

Jialin Deng, Humphrey Yang, Aryan Saini, Urs Dominic Gaudenz, Lining Yao, Patrick Olivier, Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller

2023 ACM DIS (Best paper honorable mention)

Project Page | PDF | Video

FlexTure: Designing Dynamic and Configurable Surface Features

Tate Johnson, Dinesh K. Patel, Humphrey Yang, Umut Serdar Civici, Adriane Fernandes Minori, Lining Yao

2023 ACM DIS (Best paper honorable mention)

Project Page | PDF | Video

Exploring Challenges and Opportunities to Support Designers in Learning to Co-create with AI-based Manufacturing Design Tools

Frederic Gmeiner, Humphrey Yang, Lining Yao, Kenneth Holstein, Nikolas Martelaro 

2023 ACM CHI (Best paper honorable mention)

Project Page | PDF | Video

EpoMemory: Multi-state Shape Memory for Programmable Morphing Interfaces

Ke Zhong, Adriane F. Minori, Di Wu, Humphrey Yang, Mohammad Islam, Lining Yao

2023 ACM CHI 

Project Page | PDF | Video

Non-planar 3D Printing of Epoxy Using Freeform Reversible Embedding 

Neeha Dev Arun, Humphrey Yang, Lining Yao, Adam W. Feinberg 

2022 Advanced Materials Technologies

Project Page | PDF

Embedded 3D Printing of Thermally-Cured Thermoset Elastomers and the Interdependence of Rheology and Machine Pathing

Maria Stang, Joshua Tashman, Daniel Shiwarski, Humphrey Yang, Lining Yao, Adam Feinberg

2022 Advanced Materials Technologies

Project Page | PDF

ReCompFig: Designing Dynamically Reconfigurable Kinematic Devices Using Compliant Mechanisms and Tensioning Cables

Humphrey Yang, Tate Johnson, Ke Zhong, Dinesh K. Patel, Gina Olson, Carmel Majidi, Mohammad Islam, Lining Yao

2022 ACM CHI (Best paper honorable mention) 

Project Page | PDF | Video

Hybrid IGA-FEA of Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites for Forward Design of AI-Enabled 4D Printing 

Yuxuan Yu, Kuanren Qian, Humphrey Yang, Lining Yao, Yongjie Jessica Zhang 

2021 Journal of Materials Processing Technology 

Project Page | PDF