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About

Meiqi Zhao is pioneering the future of robotics by asking a radical question: what if machines could grow, heal, and consume material from their environment, just like living organisms? Her core research centers on self-assembling, metabolizing robots—machines designed to break free from the constraints of monolithic, closed-system design. In her 2025 work "Robot metabolism," Zhao introduces the concept of robots that can physically grow by incorporating or "consuming" other machines, a paradigm shift toward truly autonomous and sustainable robotic systems. Complementing this vision, her 2024 paper "Robot Links" explores self-assembling truss robots that can reconfigure and recover from structural damage, while her 2023 research on haptic rendering for cell injection demonstrates her ability to translate complex robotic principles into high-precision biomedical applications. Though early in her career, Zhao's work has already garnered attention for its bold reimagining of robotic adaptability. She is a rising voice in the field of developmental and metabolic robotics, challenging engineers to think beyond repair—toward regeneration.