Will Johnson is a PhD Candidate and McDougal Teaching Fellow at Yale University where his research focuses on autonomous control of tensegrity robots.  He grew up outside of Philadelphia and earned his BSE in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics and his MSE in Robotics at the University of Pennsylvania.  Will’s research involves designing, modeling, and controlling unconventional mechatronic systems in the form of compliant tensegrity robots, and therefore it requires a broad set of skills in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science.  Will enjoys designing and teaching hands-on engineering courses where students can work in the laboratory and design their own projects.  He also designs and facilitates professional development workshops for other graduate students interested in teaching and pedagogy.  Will’s goal is to become faculty at an institution that can support his pursuit of excellence in research and teaching so that he can continue to advance the state of the art of soft robotics and train the next generation of scientists and engineers.  Please browse this website to learn more about Will’s research, teaching, and other scholarly activities.