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About

Gillian McDonald is a pioneering researcher in soft robotics, with a focus on developing millimeter-scale robots for medical applications and confined-space navigation. Her work centers on serially actuated locomotion, soft hydraulic systems, and novel modeling techniques for compliant robots. McDonald’s most influential contribution is her 2017 paper on “Serially Actuated Locomotion for Soft Robots in Tube-Like Environments,” which has earned 53 citations and introduced a design methodology enabling soft robots to navigate pipes and endoluminal surgical sites—tasks impossible for traditional rigid robots. She further advanced the field with her 2016 study on soft passive valves for serial actuation in hydraulic catheters, building on McKibben actuator principles. Her 2023 work on contact modeling for high aspect ratio soft robots addresses computational challenges in predicting robot-environment interactions, while her 2021 free-fold test provides a practical method for measuring bending stiffness in slender soft actuators. McDonald’s Ph.D. dissertation (2021) synthesized these contributions, demonstrating her leadership in creating safe, adaptable robots for medical use. With a citation count exceeding 70, her research is shaping the future of minimally invasive surgery and industrial inspection.