Jake Abbott is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and an Adjunct Professor in the Kahlert School of Computing at the University of Utah, and he is the director of the Magnetic & Medical Robotics Laboratory. He joined the University of Utah in 2008. Before coming to Utah, he spent three years in Switzerland as a postdoctoral researcher working with Brad Nelson at the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zurich. Dr. Abbott received his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University in 2005 working with Allison Okamura, his M.S. from the University of Utah in 2001, and his B.S. from Utah State University in 1999, all in Mechanical Engineering.
Jake Abbott’s research has been funded by the NSF (including the CAREER Award), the NIH, NASA, the Air Force Research Lab, Space Force, and industry. He and his co-authors have won a number of Best Paper and Best Poster Awards at international conferences. He has been an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Robotics Research and the IEEE Transactions on Robotics.
In Jake’s spare time, he’s a movie buff, a foodie, and an all-around supporter of the arts and the community in Salt Lake City. Jake’s wife is a flamenco dancer and instructor in Salt Lake City, and he plays guitar and sings as part of her group.