I'm a Master's student in Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zurich.
My research interests lie at the intersection of soft robotics, functional materials, and bio-inspired sensing, with a particular interest in robots that integrate flexibility and rigidity.
Before joining ETH, I worked in Professor Peng Zhao's lab at Zhejiang University. I first assisted my senior in conducting experiments and analyzing data related to magnetic materials, and later developed an independent project on the bending behavior of magnetic cilia, which was published in Advanced Materials Technologies.
I also participated in the University of Hong Kong's Summer Research Programme, where I worked on a project developing a self-adaptive gripper based on liquid crystal elastomer.
My current interests focus on developing physical robotic systems through the integration of compliant structures, functional materials, sensing, and intelligent control.

Publications

	Biomimetic Hydrodynamic Sensor with Whisker Array Architecture and Multidirectional Perception Ability Huangzhe Dai, Chengqian Zhang, Hao Hu, Zhezai Hu, Haonan Sun, Kan Liu, et al. 2024, 11(38): 2405276.
	Modeling and Optimization of Biomimetic Magnetic Cilia for Multifunctional Tactile Sensor (Cover paper) Kan Liu, et al. 2026, 11(3): e01095.

Course Projects

	The control of footed robot and navigation of wheeled robot [2024 Autumn&Winter in ZJU] Robotics and Practice
	Strength and Lightweight Analysis of High-Speed Rotating Component Load Units [2024 Winter in ZJU] Finite Element Analysis
	Screw Jack Design [2024 Autumn&Winter in ZJU] Mechanical Design and Manufacturing Ⅲ
	MNIST Handwritten Digit Recognition [2024 Summer in ZJU] Frontiers of Artificial Intelligence

Experience

	ETH Zurich 2026.09 ~ Present M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering Supervised by Professor Robert Katzschmann
	Zhejiang University 2022.08 ~ 2026.06 GPA: 4.16/4.3 (rank 1/191) B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering, Minor in Advanced Class of Engineering Education (Honors) Supervised by Professor Peng Zhao
	The University of Hong Kong 2025.06 ~ 2025.08 Summer Research Programme Supervised by Professor Lizhi Xu
	The University of Oxford 2024.08 ~ 2024.09 Visiting Student

Selected Honors and Awards

• 2025.10 Chu Kochen Scholarship (ZJU's highest student honor, awarded to 12 undergraduates annually)
• 2025.10 Special Prize in the 19th "Challenge Cup" China Mobile National College Students' Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition (Top 0.024% across China)
• 2025.10 Silver Award in China International College Students' Innovation Competition 2025
• 2024.11 National Scholarship of the People's Republic of China (Top 0.2% across China)
• 2024.11 First Prize of Zhejiang Undergraduate Engineering Practice And Innovation Ability Competition
• 2024.08 Outstanding winner of the 17th National University Student Social Practice and Science Contest on Energy Saving and Emission Reduction (Top 0.2% across China)
• 2023.11 National Scholarship of the People's Republic of China (Top 0.2% across China)
• 2023.05 Zhejiang University Five-Star Volunteer
• 2020.10 Third Prize of Chinese Physics Olympiad in Zhejiang Province

Funded Research Programmes

• 2025.09 ~ 2026.06
  National Natural Science Foundation of China, Young Students Fund (Top 144 across China in 2025)
  
• 2025.03 ~ 2026.03
  2025 Chu Kochen Honors College In-Depth Research Training Programme (10 projects university-wide)
  
• 2024.03 ~ 2026.03
  Zhejiang University Undergraduate Academic Rising Star Programme (30 projects university-wide)