Tactus AI Partners with UC San Diego Engineering Students to Design the Next Generation of Robot Grippers

At Tactus AI, we believe the future of laboratory robotics will be built by the next generation of engineers. That's why we're proud to be partnering with a team of senior engineering students from the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego on a capstone design project that sits at the intersection of mechanical engineering, robotics, and real-world laboratory automation.

The Project: A Robot Gripper for the Lab of the Future

As part of MAE 156, a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering senior design course at UCSD, a team of five students is tackling one of the fundamental challenges in laboratory robotics: designing a gripper capable of reliably handling specific objects found in a working lab environment.

The physical world of the laboratory demands dexterity, precision, and adaptability—qualities that are deceptively difficult to engineer into a robotic end effector.

The project is guided by Professor David Gillett, who leads the MAE 156 capstone program, and the students are working closely with the Tactus AI engineering team under the direction of Casey Laris, CTO. This collaboration gives the students direct exposure to industry-grade design constraints including the regulatory, safety, and ergonomic considerations unique to clinical laboratory environments.

Meet the Team

The five students bringing this project to life are Harsh Savla, Alex Pacheco Santiago, Trew Hoffman, Matthew Fagen, and Cecilia Lee, all seniors in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering program. Together, they're applying what they've learned across four years of coursework in mechanics, materials, controls, and design to solve a problem with direct real-world impact.

Why It Matters

Gripper design is one of the most critical—and often underappreciated—elements in robotics. In a laboratory setting, a robot's ability to safely and accurately manipulate objects directly determines which workflows can be automated. Getting the gripper right unlocks everything downstream: sample handling, instrument loading, specimen transport, and more.

This kind of university–industry partnership is something we're deeply committed to at Tactus AI. It brings fresh thinking to hard engineering problems, gives students hands-on experience with meaningful technology, and helps us build connections with the talented engineers who will shape the future of our field.

We'll be following the team's progress throughout the quarter and sharing updates as the project develops.

Congratulations to Harsh, Alex, Trew, Matthew, and Cecilia on the work so far—we're excited to see what you build!

Interested in partnering with Tactus AI? Get in touch with our team.