Thanh Nho Do

Thanh Nho Do is a Scientia Associate Professor, ARC Future Fellow & Cancer Institute NSW (CINSW) Career Development Fellow at School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. He directs UNSW Medical Robotics Lab. In 2015, he was awarded his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering (Surgical Robotics) from the School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (MAE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He also received his B. Eng. degree in Manufacturing Engineering with Honor Program from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam. He was a Postdoctoral Scholar at California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), USA. He also worked as a Research Fellow and a Group Leader at Robotic Research Center (RRC), School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (MAE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Scientia A/Professor Do is a pioneering figure in Australian robotics, distinguished as the receipient of multiple prestigious awards and fellowships across the dual fields of engineering and medicine. His multidisciplinary impact spans cardiovascular and cancer research, highlighted by the first Roboticist who has been recognised with the 2025 Ministerial Award for Rising Star in Cardiovascular Research, the 2024 Young Tall Poppy Science Award, the 2022 Google Research Scholar Award, Reuters' Top 4 Robots of 2023, or Future Health Driver by WHO. His leadership is further evidenced by a suite of competitive fellowships, including the Cancer NSW Career Development Fellowship and the UNSW Scientia Fellowship. Notably, he remains the only roboticist to be featured by Engineers Australia eight times. His innovations have garnered extensive global attention, with coverage from over 100 media outlets and TV programs, including Reuters, the BBC, The Washington Post, New YOrk Post, IEEE Spectrum, Science Magazine, and many others. His main research interests include: - Flexible surgical devices, especially Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) systems, for gastrointestinal cancer treatments - Soft robotics including stretchable sensors and actuators for haptic/tactile displays and their applications to other robotic systems - Soft assistive device for heart failure and soft artificial organs - Soft Wearable Haptic Devices - Functional materials for soft electronics and biomedical applications - Variable stiffness structures for flexible endoscopic systems, soft robotics and other biomedical applications - Miniature soft magnetic robots for drug delivery systems - Soft magnetic capsule endoscopy for obesity treatments and gastrointestinal diagnosis - Soft pneumatic/hydraulic actuators - Soft programmable planar fabric actuators - Advanced wearable systems for haptic/tactile displays and NOTES systems - Advanced mechatronic systems for the treatment of tracheal diseases and other respiratory disorders - Nonlinear backlash/hysteresis modeling and identification methods - Advanced control algorithms (feedforward and nonlinear adaptive control) for flexible medical systems and smart materials and structures Editorial Activities: - Guest editor: Endoscopy, joint collection between Nature communications Engineering, Nature Communications Medicine and Scientific Reports - Editor-Nature Communications Engineering - Guest Editor-Sensors, Special Issues "Soft Sensors, Actuators and Sensing Technology for Medical Applications" - Guest Editor-Micromachines, Special Issues "Soft Robotics: Design, Fabrication, Modeling, Control and Applications" - Topic Editor-Frontiers in Medical Technology-Diagnostic and Therapeutic Devices, Research Topic "Wearable Soft Robotics in Diagnostics and Therapeutics" Lab Members and Research Activities: Please visit UNSW Medical Robotics Lab Dr. Do is currently looking for undergraduate and postgraduate students to join his research group starting 2026. The research projects include: - Project 1: The design, fabrication, modeling, control of novel soft artificial organs including soft robotic hearts using soft robotic technologies - Project 2: The development of flexible surgical robot for endovascular intervention in circulatory systems and surgical removal of cancers in luminal organs such as lung, pancreas, breast, gastrointestinal tract etc. - Project 3: The development of flexible surgical robot for eearly detection and surgical removal of cancers in luminal organs (or tubular organs) such as lung, pancreas, breast, gastrointestinal (GI) tract etc. - Project 4: Soft wearable haptic devices for VR/AR and medical applications - Project 5: Soft wearable assistive device for human augmentation - Project 6: Advanced soft robotic actuators for biomedical applications Prospective students with background in mechanical design, mechatronics, robotics, control systems, and soft materials with good hands-on skills please feel free to contact Dr. Do to discuss desired projects. Please also include CV and transcript together with names and contacts of at least two academic referees. There are several scholarships available for both domestic and international students. Please follow the below links for deadlines and other information: - Determine Your Eligibility for a Scholarship: https://selfassessment.research.unsw.edu.au/ - Meet English requirement: https://www.unsw.edu.au/english-requirements-policy - Key-dates: https://research.unsw.edu.au/key-dates - UNSW Post Graduate Research Scholarship for International Students - UNSW Post Graduate Research Scholarship for Domestic Students - Australia Awards and Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships - UNSW/Home Country Joint Scholarship - Vietnam-Vingroup Scholarships (for Vietnamese candidates) Flexible surgical devices, especially Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) systems, for gastrointestinal cancer treatments; Soft robotics including stretchable sensors and actuators for haptic/tactile displays and their applications to other robotic systems; Soft assistive device for heart failure and soft artificial organs; Soft Wearable Haptic Devices; Functional materials for soft electronics and biomedical applications; Variable stiffness structures for flexible endoscopic systems, soft robotics and other biomedical applications; Miniature soft magnetic robots for drug delivery systems; Soft magnetic capsule endoscopy for obesity treatments and gastrointestinal diagnosis; Soft pneumatic/hydraulic actuators; Soft programmable planar fabric actuators; Advanced wearable systems for haptic/tactile displays and NOTES systems; Advanced mechatronic systems for the treatment of tracheal diseases and other respiratory disorders; Nonlinear backlash/hysteresis modeling and identification methods; Advanced control algorithms (feedforward and nonlinear adaptive control) for flexible medical systems and smart materials and structures