Dr. Feifei Qian

Biography

Feifei Qian is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Southern California. Qian received a PhD in Electrical Engineering and a Master's Degree in Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining USC, Qian worked at the GRASP lab at the University of Pennsylvania as a postdoctoral fellow. Qian’s expertise includes analyzing and modeling complex interactions between robots and their environments to generate innovative control and sensing strategies that improve robot mobility in challenging terrains. Her recent research has focused on the locomotion of legged robots and animals and has uncovered principles and strategies for effective movement in granular terrains and perturbation-rich environments. Qian is developing robots that exploit obstacle disturbances to navigate cluttered environments and utilize leg soil strength sensors to generate erodibility maps for navigation in desert conditions. Her research has been recognized with an NSF CAREER award and a student paper award from the Robotics Science and Systems (RSS) conference, and her work has been featured in media outlets such as BBC News, CBS News, Reuters, and NPR. Qian serves on the Organizing Committee for the 2025 Robotics Science and Systems (RSS) conference and has held various roles, including Associate Editor for the 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) and as a member of the Program Committee for the 25th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots (CLAWAR).

Research Interests