Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Steven Hong is a pioneering roboticist whose work bridges the gap between surgical precision and autonomous mobility. His primary research areas include next-generation surgical robotics, time-delayed teleoperation, and real-time terrain estimation for mobile robots. Hong’s most impactful contributions center on the development of flexible, single-port robotic systems for transoral surgery, demonstrating in preclinical studies that these systems can effectively perform hypopharyngectomies—a critical advancement for minimally invasive head and neck cancer treatment. His 2019 paper on a single-port robotic system for transoral robotic surgery has garnered 46 citations, underscoring its significance in the field. Additionally, Hong has addressed the challenge of time-delayed robotic surgery through compensatory motion scaling (45 citations), enhancing safety and precision in remote operations. Beyond the operating room, his work on real-time terrain property estimation for mobile robots (30 citations) enables autonomous navigation in complex environments, with applications ranging from search-and-rescue to planetary exploration. Hong’s interdisciplinary approach—combining clinical need with engineering innovation—positions him as a key figure in both surgical and field robotics, with a growing portfolio of high-impact research that promises to reshape how robots interact with and operate within the human body and the physical world.