Dr. Fichera was selected as a fellow of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study for the 2026-2027 academic year. He will work with Harvard physicists to apply cutting-edge research on mechanical metamaterials — specially engineered materials with properties not found in nature — to build a new generation of robots for minimally invasive surgery.

Lucas was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP). This award will provide support for his doctoral studies for the next three years. Congratulations to him!

Dr. Fichera was granted tenure and promoted to the rank of associate professor at WPI! Read the full press release here.

Dr. Fichera was awarded a new research grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF), entitled Unified Design, Modeling, and Control of Extensible Continuum Robots for Operation in Human Workspaces. This collaborative project will see our lab work with Drs. Cagdas Onal (PI) and Berk Calli to develop a highly flexible robotic arm called CoBRA (Continuum Bioinspired Robotic Assistant) to help people with daily tasks and improve their independent living skills.