Research interests

My research objective is to endow robots with dexterous capabilities for physical interaction and object manipulation, by leveraging insights gained from the neuroscience of human sensorimotor control and learning. I seek to develop an interdisciplinary research program at the nexus of robotics and computational neuroscience, focused on movement intelligence. Specifically on the computation, dynamics, and control of movement in biological organisms and machines. At the core of this vision is a synergistic symbiosis between robotics and neuroscience, mediated by control and dynamical systems theory.

To realize this vision, my research approach combines analytical and computational tools from robotics, control theory, dynamical systems, machine learning, and information theory, together with experimental methods to probe, analyze, and model human sensorimotor control and learning. A guiding principle in my approach is the notion of embodied intelligence. This approach focuses on the tight coupling between neural and physical elements, i.e., the brain and the body/environment/object. Movement problems are not entirely solved through neural control and computation. Rather, my research has shown that humans seek control solutions that exploit dynamical properties of the body and/or the object, to offload the computational burden from the brain. Indeed, intelligence is not situated in the brain, but rather arises from the interactions between the brain, the body, and the environment.

Selected publications

Peer Reviewed Journals

1. Salah Bazzi, Stephan Stansfield, Neville Hogan, and Dagmar Sternad. Simplified Internal Models in Human Control of Complex Objects. PLOS Computational Biology, 20(11): e1012599, 2024.
2. Mohsen Sadeghi, Reza Sharif Razavian, Salah Bazzi, Raeed H. Chowdhury,  Patrick J. Loughlin, Aaron P. Batista, Dagmar Sternad. Inferring Control Objectives in a Virtual Balancing Task in Humans and Monkeys. eLife, 12:RP88514, 2024.
3. Reza Sharif Razavian*, Mohsen Sadeghi*, Salah Bazzi*, Rashida Nayeem, Dagmar Sternad. Body Mechanics, Optimality, and Sensory Feedback in the Human Control of Complex Objects. Neural Computation, 35(5): 853—895, 2023. (*First three authors contributed equally)
4. Rashida Nayeem, Salah Bazzi, Mohsen Sadeghi, Neville Hogan, and Dagmar Sternad. Preparing to Move: Setting Initial Conditions to Simplify Interactions with Complex Objects. PLOS Computational Biology, 17(12): e1009597, 2021.
5. Salah Bazzi and Dagmar Sternad. Human Control of Complex Objects: Towards More Dexterous Robots. Advanced Robotics, 34(17): 1137—1155, 2020.
6. Salah Bazzi and Dagmar Sternad. Robustness in Human Manipulation of Dynamically Complex Objects through Control Contraction Metrics. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 5(2): 2578—2585, 2020. (Also accepted for presentation at ICRA 2020)
7. Salah Bazzi, Julia Ebert, Neville Hogan, and Dagmar Sternad. Stability and Predictability in Human Control of Complex Objects. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, 28(10): 103103, 2018. (Editor’s Pick)

Peer Reviewed Conferences

1. Rashida Nayeem, Salah Bazzi, Reza Sharif Razavian, Mohsen Sadeghi, Dagmar Sternad. Multi-Modal Interactive Perception in Human Control of Complex Objects. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2023.
2. Reza Sharif Razavian, Salah Bazzi, Rashida Nayeem, Mohsen Sadeghi, Dagmar Sternad. Dynamic Primitives and Optimal Feedback Control for the Manipulation of Complex Objects. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2021.
3. Rashida Nayeem, Salah Bazzi, Neville Hogan, and Dagmar Sternad. Transient Behavior and Predictability in Manipulating Complex Objects. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2020. (Finalist for Best Paper Award in Cognitive Robotics)
4. Hui Guang, Salah Bazzi, Dagmar Sternad, and Neville Hogan. Dynamic Primitives in Human Manipulation of Non-Rigid Objects. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2019.
5. Salah Bazzi, Julia Ebert, Neville Hogan, and Dagmar Sternad. Stability and Predictability in Dynamically Complex Physical Interactions. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2018.

Academic degrees

PhD, Mechanical Engineering, American University of Beirut, Lebanon, 2017
BE, Mechanical Engineering, American University of Beirut, Lebanon, 2012

Academic Positions

• Research Scientist, Institute for Experiential Robotics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA (2021-2025)
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Biology and Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA (2017-2021)