This is RADlab – Reconfigurable and Adaptive Designs Lab

-1.16 South West Block, King’s College London

Established in 2021, the Reconfigurable and Adaptive Designs Lab (RADlab) @KCL is a state-of-the-art lab, populated with brand new equipment including laser cutters, 3D printers microfluidic benches, pneumatic testbeds, robotics arms and more.
The RADlab is part of the Department of Engineering, within the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences.
We are located in the heart of London, in the South West Block of KCL. We are fortunate enough to have our windows looking directly onto the Thames.
The engine of the RADlab is its members, which all have different expertise and backgrounds. Below, you can read about us, our projects and our hobbies.
Please contact get in touch if you have ideas for collaborations, or if you want to come present your work at our weekly meetings!

RADlab _ members

Antonio E. Forte – PI

Anto

Dr Antonio Elia Forte is Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) at KCL, and lead of the RADlab. He is also Associate in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at Harvard University.
Dr Forte has a cross-disciplinary background in Computational Mechanics (PhD, 2011-2015 Imperial College), Neuroscience & Signal processing (Postdoc, 2015-2018, Imperial College) and Applied Mechanics (Fellowship, 2018-2021, Harvard University).
He is recipient of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, the Global Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship, the EPSRC Impact Accelerator Award, among other prizes and recognitions.
Antonio is interested in non-linear mechanics, reconfigurable systems, robotic matter, mechanical metamaterials, skateboarding, old motorcycles, electric guitars and weird anologue music devices.

Junke Yao – Postdoc

Junke

Junke is currently a Research Associate for RADlab in Engineering at KCL.
Junke Yao has a cross-disciplinary background in Electronic and Electrical Engineering (Bachelor, 2014-2018, University of Glasgow), Human and Biological Robotics (Master, 2018-2019, Imperial College London), Mechanical Engineering (PhD, 2012-2024, University College London). She has (co-)authored papers published in high-impact journals and prestigious conferences, e.g., IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, IEEE EMBC etc. She is reviewer for many journals and conference papers (e.g., RA-L and HSMR).
Junke is interested in computational modelling, robotic materials, soft robotics, mechanical metamaterials and medical devices.

Mostafa Mousa – PhD

Mo

Mostafa is a PhD candidate in Engineering at KCL. He paired his BSc in mechatronics Engineering with a MSc in microelectronics systems design, focused on biohybrid soft robots. His PhD is investigating improved controllability of fluidic circuits for soft robots.
Mostafa received the prestigious Mostafa Ghanim Award for excellence in postgraduate studies from Nile University. He was handed the prize by the former president of Egypt Adly Mansour. His work on reconfigurable valves has been awarded a frontispiece of the journal Advanced Science for “outstanding results”.
Mostafa is interested in fluidic logic circuits, robotic matter, embodied intelligence, and sensing applications. He is a former photographer, videographer, and horrible padel tennis player.

Ashkan Rezanejad – PhD

Ash

Ashkan is a PhD candidate in RAD Lab at KCL. He has a background in Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Design and Robotics. Currently, he is investigating the physical behaviour of entangled granular media. His research focuses on developing new granular mechanical metamaterials capable of performing complex robotic picking.

Barakat Barakat – PhD

Bara

Barakat is a PhD student at KCL, under the supervision of Dr. Antonio Forte. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics and Automation from Air Shams University in Egypt in 2020, graduating with honors and ranking among the top 10 in his class. Barakat has practical experience as a controls engineer, where he designed control systems for automated warehouses for leading companies, including Hello Fresh and Amazon. His doctoral research focuses on investigating granular metastable metamaterials, exploring their individual and collective behaviors in applications such as sound and shock absorption. His work extends to the reconfigurability and reprogramability of these materials, utilizing experimental, computational, analytical, and AI methods.

Yuxuan Wang – PhD

Yuxuan

Yuxuan Wang is a PhD student and a member of the RADlab at KCL. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Automation at Beihang University (2018-2022) and pursued a Master’s degree in Robotics at the University of Bristol (2022-2023).
Yuxuan’s research interests focus on robotic mechanical structures and control, mechanical metamaterials, as well as programmable and reconfigurable metamaterials. He is passionate about exploring innovative areas related to robotics and pushing the boundaries of these cutting-edge technologies.

Mohammed Rasouli – PhD

Mohammad

Mohammad is a PhD student at KCL, working under the supervision of Dr. Antonio Forte. He completed his BSc in Mechanical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology in Iran. His research focuses on integrating mechanical metamaterials with soft matter, such as hydrogels, inflatable silicones, and dielectric elastomers, to develop novel electronic skin with actuation and sensing capabilities. Through experimental testing, finite element simulations, and machine learning techniques, he aims to optimize the mechanical properties and sensory functions of these materials for diverse engineering applications.

Michael Adlerstein – PhD

Michael

Michael is currently a PHd candidate for RADlab in Engineering at KCL,
Michael has a cross-disciplinary background in Bioengineering (Bachelor, 2019-2022, University of Sheffield), Robotics (Master, 2022-2023, UCL). He pursued a fellowship at IIT (Genoa, Italy), where he worked in project VINUM focusing on computer vision. He was awarded the best Robotics solution award at ICRA 2024 for his work on 3D grapevine reconstruction and has a second publication pending for ICRA 2025.
Michael is Currently investigating the application of metamaterial and soft robotics for the next generation of wearable robots.

Sook Min Mercy Yapp – UG

Mercy

Mercy is a Y3 UG student at King’s College London, working under the supervision of Dr. Antonio Forte.
She has had the opportunity to lead a project team in designing and building a Space Rover in her UG Design Module, which won first place among 27 teams during its demonstration day. Her team’s Space Rover outperformed other teams in navigating a simulated Martian terrain, climbing steep slopes, deploying probes, and retrieving unexpected objects.
Currently, Mercy is focusing on the development of modular reconfigurable Soft Robots designed to operate most effectively in a group setting. By working together, the robots can achieve complex objectives that would be challenging for individual units, demonstrating the potential for scalable, flexible, and resilient robotic systems

RADlab Associated Members (co-supervised)

Mengxuan Ji – PhD

Mengxuan

Mengxuan completed her Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy at Tianjin Medical University (2017-2021) and went on to pursue a Master’s degree at University College London (2021-2022). Since 2023, she has been pursuing her PhD at King’s College London in Cancer and Pharmaceutical Science. He project focuses on the design of a needle-free robotic capsule, and Antonio serves as her second supervisor. Additionally, she has co-authored a paper titled “Machine learning using multi-modal data predicts the production of selective laser sintered 3D printed drug products.”

Kasandra Arcovio – PhD

Kas

Kasandra‘s PhD project utilizes computer-aided design and high-resolution 4D printing to create a novel drug delivery device that has the ability to expand upon release from an oral capsule. This expansion allows for microneedles on the device to be inserted into gastrointestinal tissue to facilitate the delivery of macromolecular biologics that cannot currently be taken by mouth due to very poor bioavailability via the oral route. Successful translation of this device into humans has the potential to benefit patients directly (as oral medication is often preferable to injection), as well as eliminate liability associated with needle-stick injury. She intends to bring her background in pharmacy, pharmacology, and immunology to this interdisciplinary endeavour, in order to design an elegant drug delivery device that can be developed with simplicity and scalability in mind.

Yulan Lu – PhD

Yulan

Yulan is working with digital design, resin 3D printing technology and oral delivery of biological macromolecules. By combining these technologies, she prototypes novel micro lattice resin structures integrated with microneedles to deliver biologicals via the oral route. Her project will contribute to the pharmaceutical development of oral biological drug.

RADlab Previous Members

Asma Zenagui – King’s Undergraduate Research Fellow
Yeji Sohn – King’s Undergraduate Research Fellow
Lara Jaber – King’s Undergraduate Research Fellow
Noor Hashmi – King’s Undergraduate Research Fellow