Tianyu Yu

My name is Tianyu Yu 于天宇.

I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of California at Berkeley, advised by Prof. Lining Yao at Morphing Matter Lab. I’m interested in exploring novel materials, hardware, and robots that enable unique functions beyond conventional computing devices, and the computational design and fabrication tools that propel the trend forward. I believe that computers in the future should bridge the digital and physical worlds in a seamless and natural manner, thus weaving “Physical Intelligence” into the fabric of everyday life.

I have earned a B.Eng. in Automation and a B.F.A. in Product Design from the interdisciplinary program of Creative Design and Intelligent Engineering in Xinya College, Tsinghua University, with an outstanding award, and an M.F.A degree in Information and Art Design from Tsinghua University. I have research experience in many labs, including HCIE Group at CSAIL MIT, Tangible Media Group at Media Lab MIT, and Media and Interaction Lab, the Future Lab, and Pervasive HCI Group at Tsinghua University.

View my Projects | CV | Google Scholar

Research Experience

University of California, Berkeley

Research Assistant

Morphing Matter Lab | Advisor: Prof. Lining Yao, 08/2024 – Present

Tsinghua University

Research Assistant

Mercedes-Benz, Beijing & The Future Laboratory, 11/2022 – 09/2024
Media and Interaction Lab & The Future Laboratory | Advisor: Prof. Haipeng Mi, Prof. Yingqing Xu, 07/2021 – 09/2024
Pervasive HCI Group, Department of Computer Science | Advisor: Prof. Chun Yu, Prof. Yuanchun Shi, 03/2020 – 10/2020

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Visiting Student

HCIE Group, MIT CSAIL | Advisor: Prof. Stefanie Mueller, 07/2023 – 10/2023
Tangible Media Group, MIT Media Lab | Advisor: Prof. Hiroshi Ishii, Hila Mor, 07/2019 – 10/2019

Carnegie Mellon University

Research Assistant

Morphing Matter Lab (remote) | Advisor: Prof. Lining Yao, Dr. Qiuyu Lu, 03/2022 – 05/2023

Awards and Honor

Research Paper Award

2026, Best Student Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft) (1 winner)
2025, Best Paper Award, ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) (Top 3%)
2023, Best Paper Honorable Mention, ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) (Top 5%)

Academic Award

2027, Chiang Fellowship for Graduate Scholars, UC Berkeley
2024, First Year Fellowship for Graduate Scholars, UC Berkeley
2024, 2021, Outstanding Graduate of Beijing (Top 5%)
2023, 2019, China National Scholarship (Top 1%)
2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, Overall Excellence Scholarship, Tsinghua University
2021, Outstanding Graduate Award, Tsinghua University (Top 2%)
2021, Outstanding Graduation Thesis Project, Tsinghua University

Art and Design Award

2021, Zijin Award (Nanjing) China College Student Design Exhibition (CHENG: Interactive Music Chess)
2021, Finalist in Asia Digital Art Award FUKUOKA (CHENG: Interactive Music Chess)
2021, A’Design Award (Venous Materials, contributor)

Professional Service

Academy Service

2026, Workshop Speaker | IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)
2025, Workshop Teaching Assistant | 13th International UBI (Ubicomp) Summer School (UBISS)
2023, Student Volunteer | ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST)
2021-2024, Undergraduate Student Counselor | Tsinghua University