PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Dennis Hong

Dennis Hong is a roboticist whose work connects autonomous vehicles, humanoid robots and robot locomotion. He earned mechanical engineering degrees at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Purdue, then led RoMeLa at Virginia Tech on amoeba-inspired locomotion and autonomous machines. At UCLA, he led RoboCup-winning teams and the lab’s ARTEMIS humanoid project. As of October 2026, he is a professor at UCLA and directs RoMeLa, where he explores how artificial intelligence can work with mechanical robots.

Works
227
Citations
2,615
h-index
24

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1994–2002

    Engineering degrees at Wisconsin and Purdue

    Born in California and raised in Seoul, he comes to UW–Madison to study robotics under mechanical engineering professor John Uicker. He earns a B.S. in mechanical engineering there in 1994, then M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Purdue in 1999 and 2002.

  2. 2003–2007

    Leading RoMeLa at Virginia Tech

    He joins Virginia Tech’s mechanical engineering faculty in 2003 and directs RoMeLa, where he develops Whole Skin Locomotion, an amoeba-inspired mechanism for search-and-rescue robots. In 2007, this work earns a National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

  3. 2007

    Third place in the Urban Challenge

    In 2007, he advises Virginia Tech’s VictorTango team for DARPA’s Urban Challenge. The team converts two Ford Escape hybrids into autonomous vehicles with drive-by-wire controls and human-like navigation software, then advances to the semifinal round.

  4. 2011

    The DARwIn-OP platform

    RoMeLa at Virginia Tech develops DARwIn-OP under his direction as an affordable miniature humanoid platform for research and education. In July 2011, Team DARwIn wins first place at RoboCup in Istanbul against 24 international teams.

  5. 2014

    Joining UCLA Engineering

    He joins UCLA’s mechanical and aerospace engineering faculty in 2014 after leading Virginia Tech RoboCup teams.

  6. 2015

    RoboCup Best Humanoid Award

    In 2015, he leads Team THORwIn, with UCLA and University of Pennsylvania students, to first place in RoboCup’s adult-size humanoid category and the Louis Vuitton Cup Best Humanoid Award for advances in artificial intelligence and robotics.

  7. 2023

    ARTEMIS tests its balance

    RoMeLa develops ARTEMIS in 2023 as a full-sized humanoid focused on bipedal locomotion over uneven terrain. Its custom force-controlled actuators and foot sensors help it balance as it walks, runs and jumps, and lab tests clock it at 2.1 meters per second.

  8. As of October 2026

    AI and robotics at RoMeLa

    He is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCLA and director of RoMeLa. In 2025, he says the lab is exploring ways to combine mechanical structures with artificial intelligence.

Career

  1. Since 2014University of California, Los AngelesProfessor of mechanical and aerospace engineering
  2. 2003–2014Virginia TechMechanical engineering faculty member

Education

  1. 2002Purdue UniversityM.S. and Ph.D.
  2. 1994University of Wisconsin–MadisonB.S.

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Odin: Team VictorTango's entry in the DARPA Urban Challenge2008 · Journal of Field Robotics · 265 citations
  2. Development of open humanoid platform DARwIn-OP2011 · Society of Instrument and Control Engineers of Japan · 169 citations
  3. Humanoid locomotion on uneven terrain using the time-varying divergent component of motion2014 · IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids) · 97 citations
  4. ALPHRED: A Multi-Modal Operations Quadruped Robot for Package Delivery Applications2020 · IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters · 96 citations
  5. Compliant locomotion using whole-body control and Divergent Component of Motion tracking2015 · IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation · 79 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of California, Los Angeles. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.
  2. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes University of California, Los Angeles. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of California, Los Angeles. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes University of California, Los Angeles. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Dennis Hong yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Undergraduate Catalog Faculty H I J K undergradcatalog.registrar.vt.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Dennis Hong ’94 uwalumni.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Robotic Locomotion That Mimics Amoeba Is Research Goal newswise.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Robotic locomotion that mimics amoeba goal of NSF CAREER researcher eurekalert.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Drive-by-wire and human behavior systems key to Virginia Tech’s Urban Challenge vehicle eurekalert.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. RoMeLa | DARwIn OP: Open Platform Humanoid Robot for Research and Education romela.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  7. THOR kicks to the top of robot soccer newsroom.ucla.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  8. ARTEMIS – UCLA’s most advanced humanoid robot – gets ready for action newsroom.ucla.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  9. I, Robot newsroom.ucla.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  10. RoMeLa | Personnel romela.org. Checked 19 October 2026.