Richard Groff is an Assistant Professor in the Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina. He received a B.S. in Engineering Science & Mechanics and a B.S. in German from the Pennsylvania State University in 1996. He received a M.S. and Ph.D. in the Control Systems specialty of the Systems Science and Engineering division of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Michigan in 1998 and 2003, respectively. His dissertation research was on algorithms using piecewise linear homeomorphisms for approximation of invertible maps, with applications in xerography and robotics. Before joining Clemson University in Fall 2006, he worked as an IC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California Berkeley, studying gecko-inspired fiber array adhesives and microrobotics. Professor Groff is a member of IEEE and ASME.

Prof. Groff’s current research focuses on controls and robotics, especially how mechanics and materials selection impacts controllability and capability. Research themes include bio-inspired design and control, fabrication and rapid prototyping of mechanical (such as gecko-inspired adhesives) and electromechanical systems at small length scales, and comparison of machine-learning and model-based approaches to locomotion and control.