Eric Heiden
Eric Heiden studies physics simulation for robotics. His work uses differentiable models to reduce the gap between simulated behavior and real robots. Heiden earned a computer science bachelor’s degree at Rostock in 2015 and a master’s in intelligent robotics at USC in 2017. Heiden coauthored DiSECt with a team from several research institutions. The differentiable simulator models cutting soft materials and uses gradients to calibrate parameters and optimize cutting control.
Timeline
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2015–2017
Training in computer science and robotics
Heiden earned a computer science bachelor’s degree at Rostock in 2015 and a master’s in intelligent robotics at USC in 2017.
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2021
DiSECt
Heiden coauthored DiSECt with a team from several research institutions. The differentiable simulator models cutting soft materials and uses gradients to calibrate parameters and optimize cutting control.
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2022
Doctorate and research role
Heiden earned his USC computer science doctorate in 2022 under Gaurav Sukhatme. He began an NVIDIA research-scientist role in June 2022.
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As of October 2026
Learning from simulation
Heiden describes simulators as models that can be updated from measurements. His projects use differentiable simulation for grasping, motion generation and inference of physical parameters.
Sources and credits
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