Tianqi Yue is a Tenure-Track Associate Professor, Research Fellow, and Ph.D. supervisor. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Bristol and conducted postdoctoral research at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory before joining Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). After joining SUSTech, he founded the Bioinspired Intelligent Robot Design Lab (BIRD Lab). His research focuses on the design and application of suction mechanisms in bioinspired robots, as well as the design and integration of humanoid robotic systems. As first author, he has published papers in Science Robotics (cover article), Nature Communications (highlighted article), PNAS (highlighted article), IEEE RA-L, IEEE ICRA, IEEE RoboSoft,. His work has been featured by the Associated Press, BBC, and Newton magazine, and has been covered by leading tech media such as Tech Briefs and DeepTech.

Education Background

2019.09-2024.03, University of Bristol, PhD（Engineering Mathematics）, Supervisor：Prof. Jonathan Rossiter and Dr. Hermes Galdêlha

2017.09-2019.07, Harbin Institute of Technology, Meng (Mechatronic Engineering), Supervisor: Prof. Kui Sun

2013.09-2017.07, Dalian University of Technology, BSc (Mechanical Design, Manufacturing and Automation), Supervisor: Prof. Rui Yang

Working Experience

2025.08-now, School of Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing at Southern University of Science and Technology, Tenure-Track Associate Professor

2023.11-2025.05，University of Bristol and Bristol Robotics Laboratory, Postdoctoral Research Associate, supervised by Prof. Jonathan Rossiter

2023.03-2023.11, University of Bristol and Bristol Robotics Laboratory, Research Associate (part time), supervised by Prof. Jonathan Rossiter

Research Area

1. Design and application of bioinspired suction mechanisms in robotics: Physical intelligence in soft robots integrating adhesion, perception, decision-making, and actuation via suction flow (Science Robotics, 2025); highly adaptive robotic suction grippers (PNAS, 2024; RA-L, 2022/2023; RoboSoft, 2023); wall-climbing robot with superior high load-to-energy ratios (Nature Communications, 2024; ICRA, 2021).

2. Biomimetic humanoid robotic systems: Design of highly flexible bioinspired joints; integration and control of human-like muscle groups.

3. Soft robotics: Soft grippers, actuators, variable stiffness devices (ICRA, 2023), and embodied physical intelligence.

4. Other research in robotics including system design, fabrication, integration, sensing and control.

Publications

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9746-7376

*: corresponding author; #: representative publication

1#. Yue, T., Lu, C., Tang, K., Qi, Q., Lu, Z., Lee, L. Y., Bloomfield-Gadêlha, H., & Rossiter, J.* (2025). Embodying soft robots with octopus-inspired hierarchical suction intelligence. Science Robotics (Cover illustration, introduced in Newton magazine), 10(102), eadr4264. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adr4264

2#. Yue, T., Bloomfield-Gadêlha, H., & Rossiter, J.* (2024). Snail-inspired water-enhanced soft sliding suction for climbing robots. Nature Communications (Highlighted, pressed by BBC), 15(1), 4038. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-48293-2

3#. Yue, T., Si, W., Keller, A., Yang, C., Bloomfield-Gadêlha, H., & Rossiter, J.* (2024). Bioinspired multiscale adaptive suction on complex dry surfaces enhanced by regulated water secretion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (selected in “This week in PNAS”, interviewed by Associated Press), 121(16), e2314359121. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2314359121

4. Yue, T.*, Bloomfield-Gadêlha, H., & Rossiter, J. M. (2023). Shape-Conformable Suction Cups with Controllable Adaptive Suction on Complex Surfaces. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 8(11), 7735-7742.

5. Yue, T.*, Si, W., Partridge, A. J., Yang, C., Conn, A. T., Bloomfield-Gadêlha, H., & Rossiter, J. M. (2022). A Contact-triggered Adaptive Soft Suction Cup. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (with ICRA 2022 oral presentation), 7(2), 3600 - 3607.

6. Yue, T.*, You, T. L., Philamore, H., Bloomfield-Gadêlha, H., & Rossiter, J. M. (2023, May). A Silicone-sponge-based Variable-stiffness Device. In 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) (pp. 627-633). IEEE.

7. Yue, T.*, Keller, A., Gosden, D., Bloomfield-Gadêlha, H., & Rossiter, J. (2023, April). Hydrogel-actuated Soft Sucker with Mucus Secretion. In 2023 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

8. Yue, T.*, Bloomfield-Gadêlha, H., & Rossiter, J. (2021, May). Friction-driven three-foot robot inspired by snail movement. In 2021 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) (pp. 9820-9825). IEEE.

9. Keller, A., Yue, T.*, Qi, Q., Conn, A. T., & Rossiter, J. (2024, May). A Phase-Change Emulsion Jamming Gripper for Manipulation of Micro-Scale Textured Surfaces. In 2024 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) (pp. 706-712). IEEE.

Awards

2025 Honorary Research Fellow, University of Bristol