Matt Strong

One of the best ways to describe my research in robotics and AI is that I try to let my inner child speak to me, and replicate what babies and toddlers do when they’re learning to interact with the world. They use their sense of touch to figure out how to manipulate different objects, and their eyes to understand where objects are in relation to themselves. I want to see robots seeing and touching the world in a way more akin to humans, because I believe this will enable safe robots inside the home.

Even the most advanced robots right now don’t have the spatial perception to fully understand how far away things are from them, and they still struggle with fine-grained tasks; to be able to discern, for instance, how much pressure is needed to pick up a book versus a raspberry, or how much rotational force is necessary to turn a doorknob. I’m interested in giving robots the ability to see in 3D like humans do, and to combine this with a sense of touch so they can do more complicated tasks and safely assist us.

I came to Stanford Engineering after working as a software engineer at Microsoft for two years. I’d spent my time as an undergraduate doing a lot of research and loving it, and while I loved working at Microsoft, I didn’t do any research there. A wonderful undergraduate professor of mine who knew how much I’d loved research told me that I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t pursue what I loved, and eventually I decided he was right – that I was happier when I was doing research.

Today I’m advised by professors Monroe Kennedy and Jeannette Bohg, and work in the Assistive Robotics and Manipulation Lab (ARMLab), which is directed by Monroe. It’s one of the most nonjudgmental, kind, and open-minded labs I’ve ever been in. Our people are curious, and we do some of the most diverse work in robotics because Monroe tries to understand different ways to attack very fundamental problems. Sometimes it’s hard to believe I’m here at Stanford working on my PhD with all these talented people. The work is incredible, but some of the best times are when we can all share a meal or get together with our ARM basketball group to play. When you get to see the everyday sides of people, it makes it easier to deal with the stress and frustrations everyone encounters in the lab.

I was excited to be named one of the winners of the 2025 Centennial Teaching Assistant Awards. Working as a TA for Monroe’s Collaborative Robotics class was my first teaching assignment. I initially saw it as something I just had to get through, but I found that just being around these students for three hours every week – debugging a robot or coding – led me to develop an increasingly close bond with them. I started feeling invested in them doing well and in having their projects work. Seeing them grow and begin to understand new concepts was beautiful to watch, and so fulfilling for me, which was something I didn’t expect.

As I continue to teach and become better at explaining concepts to students, I’m finding that those skills help with my own research. As I explain my work to others, I’m starting to put myself in their shoes, figuring out how much they understand, and thinking about how I can share information more effectively. It makes me realize that researchers should also be good teachers, so they can share their work not just with other scientists, but with people of all backgrounds, some of whom may never have heard of robotics. That’s when you can make bigger changes in your field.

My impact alone may not transform the entire field, but if my teaching is good enough, there are a lot of incoming legends out there who may get inspired to pursue this field and push it even further. That kind of impact is just extraordinary.