Vatsal V. Patel

Hello! I'm a robotics / mechanical engineering PhD candidate in the GRAB Lab at Yale University advised by Prof. Aaron M. Dollar. I work on developing robot hands and sensor architechtures to manipulate everyday objects in unstructured tasks without complex control.

In the past, I was a research intern at the Robotics & AI Institute and part of the 2025 cohort of RSS Pioneers. I have also worked at Intuitive Surgical, and taught as an ("outstanding") graduate student instructor and teaching fellow. At Yale, I have provided technical insights to Yale Ventures, and helped build community and mentorships through many engineering and campus-wide groups. Prior to Yale, I got my bachelors (with dept citation) and masters from University of California, Berkeley.