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Nima Najmaei

Photo of NimaRobotics Research Fellow

Toronto Rehabilitation Institute

 

 

 

Biography

Nima received his BASc degree in Electrical Engineering (Control Systems) from the Shiraz University (Shiraz, Iran) in December 2006 and his MESc and PhD degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Robotics) from University of Western Ontario (London ON, Canada) in August 2009 and December 2014, respectively. Nima has received several national and provincial awards and scholarships, including but not limited to, NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Scholarship CGS-D (2009-12), Ontario Graduate Scholarship OGS (2012-13), NSERC CREATE CAMI Scholarship Program (2012-14), Mitacs Accelerate Program (2015-16), Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship in Science and Technology QEIISST (2012-13), etc.

Prior to joining Toronto Rehabilitation Institute in 2015, Nima was a Doctoral Researcher in NSERC Computer-Assisted Medical Intervention (CAMI) program at Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics (CSTAR), London Health Science Center, London ON, Canada (2009-2015). He has also served as a Graduate Researcher at Faculty of Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London ON Canada (2007-2009), and as a research assistant at Faculty of Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz Iran (2005-2007).

Nima’s PhD project (2009-2014) focused on designed and construction of a novel haptic interface based on smart actuators (specifically Magneto-Rheological Clutches) for robot-assisted medical interventions (see more details here). During this project, Nima designed and built the first prototype of a new haptic device which can provide more accurate and reliable force reflection in comparison with its commercialized counterparts. Nima has also been involved in research on physical human robot interaction (2007-2009) in which his focus was on developing new algorithms for pre-collision safety of industrial robots (see more details here). He has published more than 20 engineering and scientific publications in international transactions, journals, and conferences (see full list of publications).

Nima’s current work at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute aims at developing an intelligent haptics-enabled robotic platform for upper limb tele-rehabilitation after stroke: assessment and therapy (see more details here). His research interests in general comprise: control theory and applications, surgical and rehabilitation robotics, haptics and tele-robotics, prototyping and commercialization, and modeling/estimation.

Publications

Book Chapters
  1. Najmaei N., Kermani M.R., Pre-Collision Planning and Control Strategies for Physical Human-Robot Interactions, New Development of Manufacturing Robotic Systems, Bentham Science, ISBN: 978-1-60805-281-3, 2011.
Selected Journal Papers
  1. Najmaei N., A. Asadian, Kermani M.R., Patel R.V., Design and Performance Evaluation of a Prototype MRF-based Haptic Interface for Medical Applications, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, in press, Accepted April 2015.
  2. Najmaei, N., Kermani, M.R., Patel, R.V., Suitability of Small-Scale Magnetorheological Fluid-Based Clutches in Haptic Interfaces for Improved Performance, IEEE/ASME Transactions on in Mechatronics, vol.20, no.4, pp.1863-1874, Aug. 2015.
  3. Azizian M., Najmaei N., Khoshnam M., Patel R.V., Visual Servoing in Medical Robotics; Part II: Tomographic Imaging Modalities: Techniques and Applications, International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer-Assisted Surgery, vol.11, no.1, pp.67-79, Mar. 2015.
  4. Azizian M., Khoshnam M., Najmaei N., Patel R.V., Visual Servoing in Medical Robotics; Part I: Endoscopic and Direct Vision Imaging: Techniques and Applications, International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer-Assisted Surgery, vol.10, no.3, pp.263-274, Sep. 2014.
  5. Najmaei N., Azizian M., Mostafavi S.K., Shahbazi S., Image-Guided Techniques in Hepatic and Renal Interventions, International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer-Assisted Surgery, vol.9, no.4, Dec. 2013.
  6. Najmaei N., Kermani M.R., Al-Lawati M., A New Sensory System for Modeling and Tracking Human Motions within the Robotic Workcell, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation & Measurement, Vol. 60(4), pp. 1227-1236, April 2011.
  7. Najmaei N., Kermani M.R., Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Safe Human-Robot Interaction, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, & Cybernetics, Part B, Vol. 41(2), pp. 448-459, April 2011.
  8. Najmaei N., Kermani M.R., On Superquadric Human Modeling and Risk Assessment for Safe Planning of Human-Safe Robotic Systems, ASME J of Mechanisms and Robotics, Vol. 2(4), Nov 2010.
  9. Najmaei N., Kermani M.R., A Streamlined Search Algorithm for Path Modifications of a Safe Robot Manipulator, Paladyn Journal of Behavioral Robotics, Vol. 1(2), pp. 130-140, June 2010.
  10. Shames I., Najmaei N., Zamani M., Safavi A., A New Intelligent and Adaptive Traffic Shaper for High Speed Networks, Int Journal of Information Science & Technology, Vol. 5(2), pp. 67-82, July 2007.
Selected Conference Papers
  1. Najmaei N., Asadian A., Kermani M.R., Patel R.V., Performance Evaluation of Magneto-Rheological Based Actuation for Haptic Feedback in Medical Applications, IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Hamburg Germany, Sep 28 - Oct 2 2015.
  2. Najmaei N., Asadian A., Kermani M.R., Patel R.V., Magneto-Rheological Actuators for Haptic Devices: Design, Modeling, Control, and Validation of a Prototype Clutch, IEEE International Conference on Automation and Robotics, Seattle WA, May 26-30 2015.
  3. Najmaei N., Yadmellat P., Kermani M.R., Patel R.V., Application of Magneto Rheological Fluid Based Clutches for Improved Performance in Haptic Interfaces, IEEE International Conference on Automation and Robotics, Hong Kong, Jun 1-4 2014.
  4. Najmaei N., Kermani M.R., An Accurate and Computationally Efficient Method for Whole-Body Human Modeling with Applications in HRI, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Shanghai, China, May 9-13 2011.
  5. Najmaei N., Lele S., Kermani M.R., Sobot R., Human Factors for Robot Safety Assessment, IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics AIM10, Montreal QC, Canada, Jul 6-9 2010.
  6. Najmaei N., Kermani M.R., Prediction-Based Reactive Control Strategy for Human Robot Interaction, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation ICRA10, Anchorage AL, USA, May 3-8 2010.
  7. Najmaei N., Kermani M.R., Evaluation Method, IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Practical Robot Applications TePRA09, Woburn MA, USA, Nov 9-10 2009.
  8. Najmaei N., Kermani M.R., Optimal Safe Planning Using a Danger Evaluation Method, 14th IASTED International Conference on Robotics and Applications RA09, Cambridge MA, USA November 24 2009.
  9. Shames I., Najmaei N., Zamani M., Safavi A.A., Application of Reinforcement Learning in Development of a New Adaptive Intelligent Traffic Shaper, IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning an Applications ICMLA06, Pittsburgh PA, USA, Jun 25-29 2006.
  10. Shames I., Najmaei N., Zamani M., Safavi A.A., A New Intelligent Traffic Shaper for High Speed Networks, IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence ICTAI06, Washington DC, USA, Nov 13-15 2006.