Curriculum Vitae

The PDF version of my CV can be found here.

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Table of Contents

• Education
• Visiting Experience
• Robots with Hands-on Experience
• Teaching Assistant (TA) Experience
• Academic Activities
• PhD Thesis
• Publications

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Education

• Ph.D., in Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), 2024.04
• Ph.D., in Mechanical Design and Theory, Beihang University (Beijing, China), 2019.06
• M.Eng., in Mechanical Manufacture & Automation, Tianjin University of Science & Technology (Tianjin, China), 2014.03

Visiting Experience

• 2016.09 – 2017.09
  • Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden)
  • Visiting PhD Student, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Robots with Hands-on Experience

• 7-DOF dVRK (da Vinci Research Kit)

  (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA; ROS, Ubuntu, C++)

• 7-DOF Franka Emika Panda robot

  (Franka Emika GmbH, Munich, Germany; ROS, Ubuntu, C++)

• 7-DOF Kinova Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot

  (Kinova Robotics, Canada; ROS, Ubuntu, C++)

• 6-DOF 3D Systems Touch (formerly Phantom Omni)

  (3D Systems, Inc., Cary, NC, USA; ROS, Ubuntu, C++)

• 6-DOF HD2 (High Definition Haptic Device)

  (Quanser Inc., Markham, ON, Canada; MATLAB/Simulink)

• 3-DOF PHANToM Premium 1.5A robot

  (3D Systems, Inc., Cary, NC, USA; MATLAB/Simulink)

• 2-DOF planar Rehabilitation robot 1.0/2.0

  (Quanser Inc., Markham, ON, Canada; MATLAB/Simulink)

Teaching Assistant (TA) Experience

1. TA, (Win. 2024), on ECE 315 Labs - Computer Interfacing, (C, FreeRTOS, Digilent Zybo Z7 board);
2. TA, (Win. 2024), on ECE 464 Lec. - Medical Robotics and Computer-Integrated Intervention;
3. TA, (Fall 2023), on ECE 312 Labs - Embedded System Design, (MPLAB, PICkit5, KiCAD);
4. TA, (Win. 2023), on ECE 220 Labs - Programming for Electrical Engineering, (C/C++);
5. LI, (Fall 2022), on ECE 360 Labs - Control Systems I, (Matlab/Simulink);
6. LI, (Win. 2022), on ECE 360 Labs - Control Systems I, (Matlab/Simulink);
7. TA, (Fall 2021), on ECE 340 Labs - Discrete Time Signals and Systems, (Matlab/Simulink);
8. TA, (Win. 2021), on ECE 360 Lec. - Control Systems I;
9. TA, (Fall 2020), on ECE 360 Labs - Control Systems I, (Matlab/Simulink);
10. GTLP Level-1, (Oct. 2020), completed the Graduate Teaching and Learning Program Level 1: Foundations;
11. TA, (Win. 2020), on ENCMP 100 Labs - Computer Programming for Engineers, (Matlab).
    • Note: TA, teaching assistant; LI, lab instructor; Win., winter term; Lec., Lecture marker.

Academic Activities

• Poster Presentation, “Robotic Assistance and Haptic Feedback in Arthroscopic Procedures: Design and Preliminary Evaluation of a Two-Arm System”, Canadian Society for Biomechanics 2024 Conference (CSB/SCB 2024), August 19-22, Chateau Lacombe, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
• Guest Talk Presentation, “Robotic Assistance and Haptic Feedback in Arthroscopic Procedures”, ECE464 Guest Talks, MEC 4-1, 10:00-10:30 AM, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
• Oral & Poster Presentation, 2023 Autonomous Systems Initiative (ASI) Symposium (ASI Symposium 2023), September 14-15, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
• Oral Presentation (in-person), 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2022), October 23-27, Kyoto, Japan, 2022.
• Recorded oral Presentation (virtual), 2021 IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Systems (ICAS 2021), Montreal, Canada, August 11-13, 2021.
• Student Volunteer, 2017 IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC 2017), Furstenfeldbruck, Munich, Germany, Jun 6-9, 2017.
• Attendee, Strat Neuro Retreat 2017, Sanga Saby, Stockholm, Sweden, May 4-5, 2017.
• Oral Presenter & Student Volunteer, 2015 IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC 2015), Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA, Jun 22-26, 2015.

PhD Thesis

1. Teng Li. “Developing a Two-Arm Robot-Assisted System for Arthroscopic Surgery”. PhD thesis, 202404. Specialization: Biomedical Engineering. Supervisor: Mahdi Tavakoli. Department: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Institution: University of Alberta. pp. 1-216, April 2024. [DOI]

Publications

1. Teng Li, Fiona Mero, Ali A. Nazari, Thomas Looi, and Dale J. Podolsky. “Semi-Autonomous RCM Strategy for HQP-Based Surgical Robotic Systems with Kinematic Redundancy”. The 18th Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics (Hamlyn 2026), June 23-26, London, UK, 2026, pp. 1-2. ( with two 7DOF Panda robots and two 4DOF customized robotic surgical tools, and two 6DOF Omni robots ) [Demo Video] [Accepted]

2. Ali A. Nazari, Fiona Mero, Teng Li, Thomas Looi, and Dale J. Podolsky. “Design and Mechanical Characterization of an Elbow-Wrist Instrument for Pediatric Robotic Surgery”. The 18th Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics (Hamlyn 2026), June 23-26, London, UK, 2026, pp. 1-2. [Accepted]

3. Cate Balasubramanian, Sunny Zhang, Teng Li, Paul Hoseok Kang, Ali A. Nazari, Thomas Looi, and Dale J. Podolsky. “Development of a Miniaturized 6-DoF Surgical Instrument with a 4-mm Elbow and 3-mm Wrist for Transoral Robotic Surgery”. 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2026), June 1-5, Vienna, Austria, 2026. pp. 1-8. ( with a 7DOF Panda robot and a 4DOF customized robotic surgical tool, and a 6DOF Omni robot ) [IEEE Xplore] [Demo Video] [ResearchGate] [Accepted]

4. Teng Li, Sunny Zhang, Thomas Looi, and Dale J. Podolsky. “A Framework of Real2Sim Teleoperation System for Evaluating Surgical Robotic Tool Design”. 2025 International Symposium on Medical Robotics (ISMR 2025), May 14-16, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2025. pp. 204-210. ( with a 6DOF Phantom Omni robot ) [IEEE Xplore] [Demo Video] [ResearchGate]

5. Teng Li. “A Teleoperation System with Impedance Control and Disturbance Observer for Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation”. arXiv, arXiv:2412.03619, pp. 1-10, 2024. ( with two 2DOF Quanser's Rehabilitation robots ) [arXiv] [Demo Video] [PDF]

6. Teng Li, Armin Badre, and Mahdi Tavakoli. “Robotic Assistance and Haptic Feedback in Arthroscopic Procedures: Design and Preliminary Evaluation of a Two-Arm System”. Journal of Medical Robotics Research (JMRR), 09(03n04):2450004, 2024. ( with two 6DOF Quanser's HD² robots ) [World Scientific] [Demo Video] [ResearchGate]

7. Teng Li, Amir Zakerimanesh, Yafei Ou, Armin Badre, and Mahdi Tavakoli. “Iterative Learning for Gravity Compensation in Impedance Control”. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (TMECH), vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 119-130, Feb. 2025. ( with a 3DOF PHANToM Premium 1.5A robot ) [IEEE Xplore] [Demo Video] [ResearchGate]

8. Teng Li, Hongjun Xing, Ehsan Hashemi, Hamid D. Taghirad, Mahdi Tavakoli. “A Brief Survey of Observers for Disturbance Estimation and Compensation”. Robotica, 41(12), 3818–3845, 2023. Cambridge University Press. ( with a 3DOF PHANToM Premium 1.5A robot ) [Robotica OA] [Demo Video] [ResearchGate]

9. Teng Li, Armin Badre, Farshid Alambeigi, and Mahdi Tavakoli. “Robotic Systems and Navigation Techniques in Orthopedics: A Historical Review”. Applied Sciences, Section: Robotics and Automation, Special Issue: Surgical Robotics Design and Clinical Applications. 13(17):9768, 2023. [MDPI-applsci] [ResearchGate]

10. Teng Li, Armin Badre, Hamid D. Taghirad, and Mahdi Tavakoli. “Point-Based 3D Virtual Fixture Generating for Image-Guided and Robot-Assisted Surgery in Orthopedics”. 2023 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2023), June 28-30, Seattle, Washington, USA, 2023. pp. 179-186. DOI: 10.1109/AIM46323.2023.10196130. ( with a 7DOF Franka Emika Panda robot ) [IEEE Xplore] [Demo Video] [ResearchGate]

11. Teng Li, Armin Badre, Hamid D. Taghirad, and Mahdi Tavakoli. “Neural Network Learning of Robot Dynamic Uncertainties and Observer-Based External Disturbance Estimation for Impedance Control”. 2023 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2023), June 28-30, Seattle, Washington, USA, 2023. pp. 591-597. DOI: 10.1109/AIM46323.2023.10196132. ( with a 3DOF PHANToM Premium 1.5A robot ) [IEEE Xplore] [ResearchGate]

12. Teng Li, Armin Badre, Hamid D. Taghirad, and Mahdi Tavakoli. “Integrating Impedance Control and Nonlinear Disturbance Observer for Robot-Assisted Arthroscope Control in Elbow Arthroscopic Surgery”. In 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2022), October 23-27, Kyoto, Japan, 2022, pp. 11172-11179. doi: 10.1109/IROS47612.2022.9981208. ( with a 3DOF PHANToM Premium 1.5A robot ) [IEEE Xplore] [Demo Video] [ResearchGate]

13. Teng Li, Hongjun Xing, Hamid D. Taghirad, and Mahdi Tavakoli. “EMG-Based Hybrid Impedance-Force Control for Human-Robot Collaboration on Ultrasound Imaging”. In 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2022), October 23-27, Kyoto, Japan, 2022, pp. 670-675. doi: 10.1109/IROS47612.2022.9981615. ( with a 7DOF Franka Emika Panda robot ) [IEEE Xplore] [Demo Video] [ResearchGate]

14. Teng Li, Xiao Meng, and Mahdi Tavakoli. “Dual Mode pHRI-teleHRI Control System with A Hybrid Admittance-Force Controller for Ultrasound Imaging”. Sensors, Section: Sensors and Robotics, Special Issue: Sensors Technology for Medical Robotics. 22(11):4025, 2022. ( with a 7DOF Franka Emika Panda robot ) [MDPI] [Demo Video] [ResearchGate]

15. Teng Li, Ali Torabi, Hongjun Xing, and Mahdi Tavakoli. “Improving A User’s Haptic Perceptual Sensitivity by Optimizing Effective Manipulability of A Redundant User Interface”. In 2021 IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Systems (ICAS 2021), August 11-13, Montreal, QC, Canada, 2021, pp. 1–5. ( with a 4DOF planar robot ) [IEEE Xplore] [ResearchGate]

16. Dangxiao Wang, Teng Li, Naqash Afzal, Jicong Zhang, and Yuru Zhang. “Haptics-Mediated Approaches for Enhancing Sustained Attention: Framework and Challenges”. SCIENCE CHINA Information Sciences, 62(11): 211101.1-21101.26, 2019. [Springer Link]

17. Teng Li, Dangxiao Wang, Cong Peng, Chun Yu, and Yuru Zhang. “Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff of Fingertip Force Control with Visual/Audio/Haptic Feedback”. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 110: 33-44, 2018. [ScienceDirect]

18. Dangxiao Wang, Teng Li, Gaofeng Yang, and Yuru Zhang. “Effects of Concurrent and Delayed Visual Feedback on Motor Memory Consolidation”. IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 10(3): 350-357, 2017. DOI: 10.1109/TOH.2017.2672549. [IEEE Xplore]

19. Dangxiao Wang, Teng Li, Yuru Zhang, Jianxia Hou. “Survey on Multisensory Feedback Virtual Reality Dental Training Systems”. European Journal of Dental Education, 20(4): 248-260, 2016. [Wiley]

20. Teng Li, Dangxiao Wang, Shusheng Zhang, Yuru Zhang, and Chun Yu. “Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff of Controlling Absolute Magnitude of Fingertip Force”. 2015 IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC 2015), Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA, June 22-26, 2015. pp: 408-414. doi: 10.1109/WHC.2015.7177746. [IEEE Xplore]

21. Dangxiao Wang, Siming Zhao, Teng Li, Yuru Zhang, Xiaoyan Wang. “Preliminary Evaluation of A Virtual Reality Dental Simulation System on Drilling Operation”. Bio-Medical Materials and Engineering, vol. 26, no. s1, pp. S747-S756, 2015. [IOS Press]

22. Cong Peng, Dangxiao Wang, Yuru Zhang, Teng Li. “Quantifying Differences Between Five Fingers in Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff for Force Control Tasks”. 2017 IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC 2017). Fürstenfeldbruck (Munich), Germany, June 6-9, 2017. pp: 275–280. doi: 10.1109/WHC.2017.7989914. [IEEE Xplore]

23. Dangxiao Wang, Yilei Zheng, Teng Li, Cong Peng, Lijun Wang, and Yuru Zhang. “Multi-Modal Human-Machine Interaction for Human Intelligence Augmentation”. SCIENTIA SINICA Informationis, 2018, 48(04): 449-465. [In Chinese] [SciEngine]

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