Lawrence Smith

Lawrence is a postdoctoral researcher who creates electrostatics soft actuators using computational design. He especially enjoys research that combines practical experiments and numerical modeling. He holds a PhD and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, with a few years in between spent as an engineering consultant specializing in medical device design. He joined the Robotic Materials Department at MPI-IS Stuttgart in 2024, and was awarded a Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2025, supporting two years of research into novel energy harvesting systems using soft electrostatic transducers. When he’s not at work Lawrence enjoys hiking and running around Stuttgart, cluttering his apartment with trinkets, and playing billiards.