Prof. Joonbum Bae

Dr. Joonbum Bae is a Professor in School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University. Previously, he served as a Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, UNIST. Dr. Bae was honored with the title of 'Rising-star Distinguished Professor' at UNIST in Sep. 2018, an award given to faculty members under the age of 45 who have made outstanding contributions to their field and to the university. Dr. Bae is also the CEO and founder of Feel the Same, Inc., a BiRC laboratory start-up founded in July 2017.

Positions

• Professor: School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University (Sep. 2024 ~ Present)
• CEO and Founder: Feel the Same, Inc. (Jul. 2017 ~ Present)
• Professor: Department of Mechanical Engineering, UNIST (Sep. 2021 ~ Aug. 2024)
• Associate Professor: Department of Mechanical Engineering, UNIST (Mar. 2016 ~ Aug. 2021), Tenured (Sep. 2019)
• Assistant Professor: Department of Mechanical Engineering, UNIST (Jan. 2012 ~ Mar. 2016)
• Postdoctoral Researcher: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley (May. 2011 ~ Jan. 2012)
• Graduate Student Researcher/Instructor: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley (Aug. 2006 ~ May. 2011)
• Programmer: NHN Corp. / Game Development Division (Sep. 2001 ~ Jan. 2005)

Education

• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley (May, 2011)
• M.A. in Statistics, University of California, Berkeley (May, 2010)
• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley (May, 2008)
• B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Summa Cum Laude (Aug., 2006)

Honors and Awards

• Ranked No. 6 (No. 1 in Asia) at $10M ANA Avatar XPRIZE (Nov. 2022), $10M ANA Avatar XPRIZE Finalist (Oct. 2021)
• 2021 UNIST Outstanding Faculty Award (Grand Prize in academic field, May 2022)
• 2020 JMST Second Best Paper Award: Korea Society of Mechanical Engineers (KSME) (Nov. 2021)
• Rising-star Distinguished Professor: UNIST (Sep. 2018)
• Korean Government Minister Award (Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning): 제 1회 미래성장동력 챌린지 데모데이 (March, 2017)
• Best Teaching Award: UNIST (Dec. 2016)
• Korean Government Minister Award (Ministry of Public Safety and Security): 대한민국 안전기술대상 (Nov. 2016)
• Young Researcher Award: Korea Robotics Society (KROS) (Oct. 2015)
• Semi-Plenary Paper Award Finalist: ASME Dynamic System and Control Conference (DSCC) (Oct. 2012)
• Samsung Scholarship: 7th Samsung Scholarship Program (Jan. 2009 ~ Aug. 2011)
• Big Idea: This year's top 10 finalists (2010) - Can Human Exoskeleton Suit Help Paralized Peopple to Grasp and Walk? - University of California, Berkeley.
• Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award: University of California, Berkeley (2009)
• Best Poster Finalist: The 17th International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) World Congress (Aug. 2008)
• LG Global Challenger: First prize in Engineering (Sep. 2005) 
[Student Award]
• Grand Prize: Soft Robotics Research Center (SRRC) (Aug. 2023, Aug. 2022)
• Best Paper Award: Korea Robotics Society Annual Conference (KRoC) (Aug. 2020, Jan. 2018)
• WISET Young Researcher Award: International Conference on Control, Automation, and Systems (ICCAS) (Oct. 2016)
• Best Student Paper Finalist: IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) (July, 2016).

Academic Activities

• Senior Member, IEEE (2026-)
• Editorial Board (Associate Editor): Mechatronics
• Editorial Board (Associate Editor): Intelligent Service Robotics
• Editorial Board (Associate Editor): International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
• Editorial Board (Associate Editor): Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
• Editorial Board (Associate Editor): International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
• Editorial Board (Associate Editor): Advances in Robotics Research
• Editorial Board (Associate Editor): Journal of Korea Robotics Society (July 2017 - June 2026)
• Editorial Board (Associate Editor): 한국군사과학기술학회
• Editorial Board (Review Editor): Frontier in Neurorobotics
• Guest Editor: Sensors
• Conference Editorial Board
  - Associate Editor, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) (2015-2019, 2022-2027)
  - Associate Editor, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (IROS) (2015, 2020-2023, 2025)
  - Associate Editor, IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
  - Senior Editor, International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots (UR) (2020-2026)
  - International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI) (2014, 2016)
  - International Conference on Control, Automation and Systems (ICCAS) (2017, 2019-2022)
  - International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Applications (ICIRA) (2011)
  - Korea Robotics Society Annual Conference (KRoC) (2019-2021)

Media Coverage