PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jacob Rosen

Jacob Rosen is a medical robotics researcher whose AI work includes learning algorithms for surgical tissue manipulation. He earned engineering degrees at Tel Aviv University and developed surgical and wearable robots during a career at the University of Washington, UC Santa Cruz and UCLA. In 2019, he coauthored research on reinforcement learning and learning from demonstration for autonomous tissue manipulation. He co-founded Horizon Surgical Systems in 2021, and its Polaris platform reached human cataract surgery in 2025. As of October 2026, he is a UCLA professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and bioengineering and Horizon's chief technology officer.

Works
156
Citations
8,088
h-index
43
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 27 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1987–1997

    Engineering degrees at Tel Aviv

    He earns a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering at Tel Aviv University in 1987, followed by an M.Sc. in biomedical engineering in 1993 and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering in 1997.

  2. 1997–2005

    Medical robotics at Washington

    From 1997 to 2000, he works as a postdoctoral researcher in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Surgery at the University of Washington, developing surgical robots and medical simulation systems. In 2005, as a research assistant professor of electrical engineering, he develops a powered exoskeleton at the UW Biorobotics Lab designed to use the body's nerve signals to control movement.

  3. 2012

    The Raven II research platform

    In 2012, he is an associate professor of computer engineering at UC Santa Cruz and develops the Raven II surgical robots with Blake Hannaford at the University of Washington. His Santa Cruz group designs and builds the robots, while the Washington group builds the electronics and software. Seven systems provide a shared research platform for universities to exchange software and repeat experiments.

  4. 2014

    Joining UCLA robotics

    UCLA recruits him in 2014 as part of an expansion of its robotics faculty, alongside Dennis Hong and Veronica Santos.

  5. 2019

    Learning to manipulate tissue

    In 2019, he coauthors “Autonomous Tissue Manipulation via Surgical Robot Using Learning Based Model Predictive Control.” The work studies reinforcement learning and learning from demonstration with vision, and tests the demonstration-based method on a Raven IV surgical robot.

  6. September 2019

    Founding Wearable Technologies

    In September 2019, he is a founding editor and editorial board member of Wearable Technologies, a Cambridge University Press journal. He directs the UCLA Bionics Lab, where wearable robotics is the main research field.

  7. January 2020

    A book on wearable robotics

    In January 2020, he and Peter Ferguson of the UCLA Bionics Lab are editors and coauthors of Wearable Robotics – Systems and Applications, published by Academic Press. The book covers exoskeletons and prosthetic systems for the arms, hands, legs and whole body.

  8. 2021

    Co-founding Horizon Surgical Systems

    He co-founds Horizon Surgical Systems in 2021 with fellow UCLA researchers Tsu-Chin Tsao, Jean-Pierre Hubschman and Steven Schwartz. The company develops robotic technology for eye surgery from research at UCLA.

  9. October 2025

    Polaris reaches human eye surgery

    In October 2025, Horizon announces its first human cataract surgery with the Polaris platform, performed by Uday Devgan. The system combines AI-based visualization with robotic control for eye surgery.

  10. As of October 2026

    Professor and technology chief

    As of October 2026, he is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and bioengineering at UCLA and chief technology officer of Horizon Surgical Systems. His UCLA research includes surgical and rehabilitation robotics, wearable robots, teleoperation and haptics.

Career

  1. Since 2014University of California, Los AngelesRobotics faculty
  2. NowHorizon Surgical SystemsChief Technology Officer
  3. NowUniversity of WashingtonAffiliate Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  4. From 2021Horizon Surgical SystemsCo-founder
  5. From 2012University of California, Santa CruzAssociate Professor of Computer Engineering
  6. From 2005University of WashingtonResearch Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
  7. 1997–2000University of WashingtonPostdoctoral researcher, departments of Electrical Engineering and Surgery

Education

  1. 1997Tel Aviv UniversityPh.D. in biomedical engineering
  2. 1993Tel Aviv UniversityM.Sc. in biomedical engineering
  3. 1987Tel Aviv UniversityB.Sc. in mechanical engineering

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

Checked career sources: ee.washington.edu, ee.washington.edu.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Jacob Rosen: Wear a Robot: Strike Stroke | TED Talk ted.com. Checked 27 October 2026.
  2. Innovations: "Super Suit" to the rescue; smarter shoes | UW College of Engineering engr.washington.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  3. Surgical robots to provide open-source platform for medical robotics research | UW News washington.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  4. Soft Focus: A Flexible Future for Robots | UCLA newsroom.ucla.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  5. Autonomous Tissue Manipulation via Surgical Robot Using Learning Based Model Predictive Control arxiv.org. Checked 27 October 2026.
  6. Jacob Rosen one of the founding editors of new “Wearable Technologies” journal | MAE mae.ucla.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  7. Peter Ferguson and Jacob Rosen are editors and co-authors of the new book “Wearable Robotics – Systems and Applications” | MAE mae.ucla.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  8. UCLA Research Leads to World’s First Robotic-Assisted Cataract Surgery | UCLA Samueli School Of Engineering samueli.ucla.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  9. Horizon Surgical Systems Completes World’s First Robotic-Assisted Cataract Surgery - Horizon Surgical Systems horizonsurgicalsystems.com. Checked 27 October 2026.
  10. Jacob Rosen | UCLA Samueli School Of Engineering samueli.ucla.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  11. About Us - Horizon Surgical Systems horizonsurgicalsystems.com. Checked 27 October 2026.