Elle Miller

Hi there! I’m Elle, currently a 1st year PhD student at the University of Edinburgh supervised by Prof. Sethu Vijayakumar and Dr. Stefano V. Albrecht. I’m researching reinforcement learning for contact-rich robotic manipulation, with an emphasis on multimodal and tactile sensing. I hope to apply my research to scenarios ranging from dexterous manipulation to physical assistance for people with motor impairments.

I had the incredible opportunity to work for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the DLR Institute for Mechatronics and Robotics after university. At NASA I researched semantic perception for robotic autonomy in hazardous environments, while at DLR I worked on an inspiring assistive robotics system called EDAN. Along the way I also helped create a mobile humanoid robot called EVA!

I graduated with First Class Honours in a BEng (Mechatronic (Space)) & BSc (Advanced Physics) from the University of Sydney in 2023. As an undergraduate, I undertook several internships in parallel with my studies, working with the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cochlear, Australian National University, and Saber Astronautics.

I am very excited by the intersection of robotics and machine learning, and how these fields can advance and benefit humanity in a wide range of settings from space exploration to healthcare. On a personal note, I enjoy playing and making music, film photography, cinema, and seeing the world. Feel free to get in contact!