// user.profile —— online
Shiyao > Derek Ni
Honours Mechanical Engineering @ McGill · Roboticist at the MACRObotics Lab.
Working at the intersection of computational design,
soft robotics, and machine learning.
About
Fourth-year honours mechanical engineering student at McGill University. I joined the MACRObotics Lab in 2022, focused on the design and co-optimization of soft robots. That work pulled me into computational design — and I’m now exploring how deep learning, reinforcement learning, and generative AI can change the way physical systems are designed.
Explore
Soft robots & co-optimization
Domain randomization, model-order reduction, and morphology–control co-design for soft robotic systems.
Design work & side projects
Mechanical design, prototyping, and personal projects across hardware and software.
What I'm thinking about
RL for materials and design spaces — making the trial-and-error cycle of complex design faster.
Latest CV
My most recent résumé — research, projects, coursework, and tools, in PDF.