Mahmut Selman Sakar

About

Mahmut Selman Sakar is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of bioengineering, microrobotics, and soft robotics, whose work has fundamentally advanced our understanding of how biological and artificial systems can be integrated to create functional machines at the microscale. His most celebrated contributions include the development of three-dimensionally printed biological machines powered by skeletal muscle (439 citations), which demonstrated that living cells could be combined with engineered structures to produce controllable, force-generating devices. Building on this, his optogenetic control of 3D engineered skeletal muscle bioactuators (291 citations) introduced precise light-based spatiotemporal stimulation of muscle tissue, opening new frontiers in programmable biological systems. Sakar has equally distinguished himself in medical microrobotics, engineering magnetically actuated microtransporters for targeted drug delivery (234 citations), automated single-cell manipulation systems (232 citations), and flow-driven endovascular probes for navigating complex vascular anatomy. His broader contributions span swarm robotics inspired by ant collective behavior, stochastic source-seeking algorithms for mobile robots, and acoustically actuated hydrogel microsystems. With over 1,800 cumulative citations across his most impactful works, Sakar's research consistently bridges fundamental biological science with cutting-edge engineering, offering transformative tools for minimally invasive medicine and next-generation biomedical technologies.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Three-dimensionally printed biological machines powered by skeletal muscle

   439 citations · 2014
2. 2
   Formation and Optogenetic Control of 3D Engineered Skeletal Muscle Bioactuators

   291 citations · 2012
3. 3
   3D Printed Microtransporters: Compound Micromachines for Spatiotemporally Controlled Delivery of Therapeutic Agents

   234 citations · 2015
4. 4
   Automated biomanipulation of single cells using magnetic microrobots

   232 citations · 2013
5. 5
   Hybrid Helical Magnetic Microrobots Obtained by 3D Template‐Assisted Electrodeposition

   164 citations · 2013
6. 6
   Experimental Study and Modeling of Group Retrieval in Ants as an Approach to Collective Transport in Swarm Robotic Systems

   109 citations · 2011
7. 7
   Stochastic Source Seeking by Mobile Robots

   105 citations · 2012
8. 8
   Addressable Acoustic Actuation of 3D Printed Soft Robotic Microsystems

   98 citations · 2020
9. 9
   Flow driven robotic navigation of microengineered endovascular probes

   96 citations
10. 10
    Modeling, control and experimental characterization of microbiorobots

    85 citations · 2011

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links