Burak Aksak

Burak Aksak joined Carnegie Mellon University’s Mechanical Engineering Department in Spring 2025 as a teaching professor. Previously, he was an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas Tech University from 2012 to 2023, where he also served as an associate department chair between 2019 and 2022. Aksak cofounded Setex Technologies Inc., a CMU spin-off, in 2009 and joined it as Vice President in 2022. After the company was acquired by Shin-Etsu Chemical Company in 2024, he joined Shin-Etss MicroSi to assist with technology transfer. His teaching interests include mechanics and design courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels, with a focus on incorporating biomimicry, advanced materials, and entrepreneurship-related topics in engineering courses. His research focus is bioinspired engineering, specifically studying and designing engineering systems in adhesives, actuators, and sensors inspired by biological systems.

Burak Aksak is a Teaching Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in Biologically Inspired Robotics, with a focus on sensors, actuators, and energy harvesting. His research explores the development of adhesives and friction-enhancing materials inspired by biological systems, such as gecko feet and microfiber arrays. Aksak's work includes the design of micro-fibrillar adhesives for wall-climbing robots, compliant humidity nanosensors, and modular robotic systems using magnetic force effectors. His research also addresses the optimization of elastomer fibers for high adhesion and the creation of bio-inspired coatings for passive flow control. These innovations aim to improve robotic mobility, sensor performance, and energy efficiency in complex environments.