Based on annual faculty activity report data, as well as proposal and grant data, the Department of Mechanical Engineering is pleased to recognize Jake Abbott, Ph.D., as our researcher of the year for the 2014 calendar year.

Director of the Utah Telerobotics Laboratory, Dr. Abbott is interested in robotic systems that manipulate remote environments.  He says, “A primary focus of our work is medical telerobotics. Particularly, we are investigating wireless magnetically controlled microrobots to navigate inside the human body. Rather than acting as autonomous systems, our microrobots act more like end-effectors of novel teleoperation system unlike anything that has ever existed. For decades we have been imagining the day when we could perform minimally invasive medical procedures from inside the body. We’re actually getting there!”


The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah is committed to providing students with broad-based, rigorous and progressive education. By combining state-of-the-art facilities with renowned faculty, the department provides an education that gives students the necessary skills to become the next generation of innovators.