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About

Daisuke Takagi is a leading researcher in the biophysics of small-scale locomotion, specializing in how organisms navigate and maneuver in viscous, low-Reynolds-number environments. His work bridges fluid dynamics, biomechanics, and robotics to uncover the physical principles governing micro-swimmers. Takagi’s major contributions include elucidating the role of boundaries in metachronal swimming, where he demonstrated how rigid appendages near surfaces enable efficient propulsion without inertia—a finding with over 25 citations. He has also pioneered studies on the rotational maneuvers of copepod nauplii, revealing the acrobatic feats these tiny crustaceans perform using three appendages, as detailed in his highly cited 2020 paper. His research extends to hydrodynamic sensing, showing how free-swimming organisms detect directional cues, and to sub-Riemannian geometry for modeling micro-swimmer dynamics. Notably, Takagi has developed robotic analogs, such as a centimetric undulator inspired by apple snails, to simulate free-surface pumping. With a cumulative citation count exceeding 50 across his key works, Takagi’s interdisciplinary approach—combining theory, experiment, and robotics—offers profound insights into the mechanics of life at the microscale, making him a pivotal figure in understanding biological propulsion and inspiring bio-inspired engineering.