Collegiate Times

Correction: This story has been modified from its original version. — This article has been modified from its original version. The article had incorrectly defined bioinspiration, where one replications actions, as biomimicry, where one duplicates physical features. The Collegiate Times regrets this error.

Virginia Tech associate professpor Dennis Hong’s advancements in robotics and mechanical engineering have landed him a top spot in Popular Science magazine’s 2009 “Brilliant 10” under-40 young geniuses list.

Hong is the only “young genius” who made Popular Science’s list for robotics.

Some of Hong’s most famous innovations include STRIDER, an android that walks on three legs, DARWIN, a purely autonomous creation that can play soccer and CHARLI, a project in the works that will eventually become the first full-sized humanoid robot.

His work is done in ROMELA, one of the country’s largest laboratories, located in the basement of Randolph Hall.

Unsure if he, himself believes that he fits the mold of a “genius,” Hong said his work ethic significantly contributes to his achievements.

“I work extremely hard, and I immensely enjoy what I do. My job is my hobby thus it’s not work, and that’s probably the secret of my success,” Hong said.

Ping Ren is a graduate student working toward his doctorate degree in mechanical engineering.

“Most of the robots’ concepts come from his mind so he is the dominant force behind this lab (ROMELA),” Ren said.  “We firmly believe that if he couldn’t come up with these interesting ideas from the beginning, we would not have such a brilliant lab.”

Inheriting a love for science and mechanics from his family, Hong said that his environment, discounting his boyhood fascination with Star Wars, played the biggest role in his interest in robotics.

“I don’t believe in the gene thing. I really believe the environment that you grow up in, the people that you interact with as you grow up,” Hong said.

The “bioinspiration method” in robotics means taking a trace of something living, then creating a robotic model based on the biological species, Hong said.  For example, in constructing a jumping robot, one might use a frog for inspiration.
Hong uses bioinspiration to create something more than just a mimicry of a living being, and he predicts he was selected for the top ten because of this pioneering take on construction. 

Take a trace of something real and use imagination to create a model for it.

“The innovative robots that I create are based on nature,” Hong said. “Not just simply copying nature but by being inspired by nature and studying the underlying scientific principles and applying that to robotics.”

Hong said that it is important to make this differentiation between humans and nature because humans have things that nature cannot produce, as does nature in regards to humans.

“Your robot needs to have the size and shape of a human being so that it can live together with us in the environment that is created by us, for us,” Hong said.

Hong began his college career at Korea University before transferring to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to finish his undergraduate degree. He earned a master’s degree and a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University.

So will robots one day rule the world? Even Hong isn’t sure.

“I wish!” Hong said. “The more you learn, the more you know, the more research you do. You become a skeptic.”