Natey Kim
My name is Natey Kim, and I'm a 21-year-old from Los Angeles.
I'm currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering and a Master’s degree in Robotics at the University of Pennsylvania.
My interests lie in prosthetics and human augmentation, with a focus on developing rehabilitative interfaces between humans and machines.
I’m currently conducting research at Penn’s GRASP Laboratory, where I work on EMG-based motion prediction.
PENN Assistive Devices and Prosthetic Technologies (ADAPT)
Led an undergraduate team in designing of upper limb prosthetics with EEG and EMG control.
Designed a prosthetic arm and hand connected to an Arduino & Raspberry Pi system for real-time brain signal control.
Implemented multiple machine learning models to classify user grasping mechanisms.
- Team brainstorming and prototyping
Cockroach Interface
Created a physical game inspired by the ”Hole in the Wall” show, controlling cockroach movement via EMG signals.
Implemented real-time EMG feature extraction and hardware filtering using custom circuit design.
- Team brainstorming and prototyping
Rehabilitative Driving Simulator
Collaborated with a Jamaican rehabilitation center to create a low-cost driving simulator for a hemiplegic patient.
Created a responsive driving simulation game using Unity.
Fabricated mechanical and electrical components, including 3D-printed, wooden, and sensor-integrated parts.
- Team brainstorming and prototyping
Social DinoBot
Designed a mobile dinosaur social robot to aid gait rehabilitation for an ischemic stroke patient.
Fabricated wooden chassis for lightweight frame and modular assembly.
Implemented various modes of communication for assistance with aphasia and speech rehabilitation.
- Team brainstorming and prototyping
AI Image to GPS Localization
Developed a deep learning pipeline to infer geographic location from a hand-collected dataset of images.
Implemented the Image2GPS algorithm using a ResNet-18 backbone and custom layers.
- Team brainstorming and prototyping
PENN Tikkun Olam Makers
Designed a laser-cuttable, adaptable wheelchair for children with physical disabilities.
Developed assistive toothbrush mechanisms in collaboration with Penn Dental.
- Team brainstorming and prototyping
KUKA Arm Competition
Worked in a team to develop an inverse dynamics control algorithm for building towers with a KUKA robotic arm.
Made a custom inverse kinematics algorithm for obstructing other teams’ building process.
Implemented velocity control linked with AprilTag object recognition to grab materials in dynamic environments.
- Team brainstorming and prototyping
AI Human Content Generator
Created an OpenPose to Stable Diffusion machine learning pipeline for art generation for social media users.
Deployed a GUI using Gradio for online user image uploads.
- Team brainstorming and prototyping
HVAC Monitoring and Surveillance System
Modeled affordable devices for detecting airborne bacteria and fungi utilizing hospital HVAC systems.
Created front-end GUI to monitor the spread of airborne diseases in monitored spaces.
- Team brainstorming and prototyping
Mookie (age: 5)
Clementine (age: 2 months)
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Hobbies
gaming, anime, piano, guitar, hiking, photosynthesizing