People

Özkale Edelmann studied Chemical Engineering at Istanbul Technical University for her undergraduate education (2005-2009). She received her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at ETH Zürich (2009-2011) where she earned her PhD in 2016. She carried out her doctoral work in the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab and focused her research on small scale robotics for biomedical applications. Following her PhD, she briefly worked as a postdoctoral fellow simultaneously at the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab (ETH Zürich) and the MicroBioRobotics Systems Laboratory (EPFL). In 2016, she was awarded with an Early Postdoc Mobility Grant by the Swiss National Science Foundation to conduct her postdoctoral research in the Mooney Lab for Cell and Tissue Engineering at Harvard University (2017-2020). The project centered on engineering microscale actuators for investigating stem cell mechanobiology. Berna Özkale Edelmann joined TUM in 2021 as tenure track assistant professor and founded the Microrobotic Bioengineering Lab, MRBL.
Tel: +49 89 289 51160
Mail: berna.oezkale@tum.de

TUM Profile

Philipp Harder studied at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich for his bachelor’s degree in physical Geography with a focus on climate change and geological deposits (2014-2018). After his interconnected bachelor thesis with the Geography and Mineralogy departments from the LMU, he started the master’s program in Geomaterials and Geochemistry at the Technische Universität München (TUM) and LMU (2018-2020). Philipp Harder joined the TUM in 2021 for his PhD work at MRBL under the supervision of Berna Özkale Edelmann. His research is focused on soft microrobotic fabrication, and their implementation for in vitro cell studies. 
Tel: +49 89 289 51165
Mail: philipp.harder@tum.de

Chen received his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering at University of Siegen. In 2021, he completed his Master in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Technical University of Munich, where his master thesis focused on the multi-scale electrochemical and mechanical modeling of electrode active materials (lithium-manganese-oxide and graphite). Furthermore, he had project experiences involving Finite-Element-Method modeling, 3D bioprinting technologies, and electrochemical characterization. After completing his Master’s degree, Chen started as a PhD student at the MRBL, working on the development of soft nano- and microactuators for applications in the biomedical field. 
Tel: +49 89 289 51161
Mail: chen.wang@tum.de

Nergishan Iyisan gained her bachelor´s degree at Istanbul Technical University with a double major in Molecular Biology & Genetics and Chemical Engineering programs (2013-2018). While her bachelor thesis in Molecular Biology and Genetics focused on protein engineering in transgenic microorganisms, her Chemical Engineering bachelor thesis was based on optimization of controlled drug release from biopolymer hydrogel matrices. Following her BSc, she started studying for her MSc in Chemical Engineering at the same university where she worked on separate projects related to designing self-healing hydrogel wound dressings and designing a 3D matrix media for micro- and super micro anastomosis to be used in plastic surgery (2019-2021). Nergishan joined MRBL at TUM as a PhD candidate in 2021. She is conducting research on stem cell encapsulation and active biomaterials.
Tel: +49 89 289 51168
Mail: nergis.iyisan@tum.de

Yuxi Yang gained her bachelor´s degree at Shaanxi University of Science and Technology and majored in Light Chemical Engineering (2015-2019). After her bachelor thesis, she started studying Light chemical technology and engineering for her MSc at the same university, focused on designing biopolymer-based hydrogel with nanoparticles and its application in wound dressings and coating materials (2019-2022). Yuxi joined MRBL at TUM as a PhD candidate in 2024, focusing on the research topic of biopolymer microgels for the encapsulation and differentiation of stem cells.
Tel: +49 89 289 51161
Mail: yuxi.yang@tum.de