Minho Hwang

About

I am an Associate Professor at DGIST and director of SURGLAB. My research focuses on surgical robotics and precision robot manipulation, with particular interests in physical AI, visual intelligence, and shared autonomy.

Our goal is to develop robotic systems that can interact safely and precisely with humans and complex physical environments.

Research

• AI-Assisted Surgical Robotics
• Autonomous Precision Manipulation
• Continuum and Flexible Robots
• Visual Intelligence and Shared Autonomy
• Learning-based Robot Control for Contact-rich Manipulation

Education

• 2017-08-18
  Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering , Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea

  Thesis: Surgical Joint with Enhanced Payload Capability with its application to Flexible Endoscopic Surgery Robot
• 2012-02-01
  M.S., Mechanical Engineering , Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea

  Thesis: Miniaturized Force Transducer for Minimally Invasive Surgical Instrument
• 2010-01-29
  B.S., Mechanical Engineering , Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea

News & Highlights

• 2026-09-01
  Promoted to Associate Professor at DGIST.
• 2026-07-03
  Excellence Award (2nd Overall), 2026 Humanoid Challenge — Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Award.
• 2026-06-26
  Invited Special Lecture at the 13th Mini-MD Workshop, Korean Society of Medical Robotics.
• 2026-06-04
  1st Place, Autonomous AI, Real dVRK Track, AI for Robotic Surgery Competition at ICRA 2026.
• 2026-06-04
  2nd Place, Human Teleoperation, Sim dVRK Track, AI for Robotic Surgery Competition at ICRA 2026.
• 2026-04-10
  Excellence Award, Humanoid Real-World Challenge, for an RB-Y1-based humanoid laparoscopic surgical system.

Selected Publications

1. Learning Optimal Strategies for Needle Handover in Surgical Suturing
   C. Kim, J. Yoon, H. Lee, S. Park, H. Park, S. Lee, M. Yip, and M. Hwang
   IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2026
2. Markerless 6D Pose Estimation and Position-Based Visual Servoing for Endoscopic Continuum Manipulators
   J. Park, C. An, M. Park, I. Ullah, S. Park, and M. Hwang
   arXiv:2602.16365, 2026
3. Hysteresis Compensation of Flexible Continuum Manipulator using RGBD Sensing and Temporal Convolutional Network
   J. Park, S. Jang, H. Park, S. Bae, and M. Hwang
   IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2024
4. Automating Surgical Peg Transfer: Calibration with Deep Learning Can Exceed Speed, Accuracy, and Consistency of Humans
   M. Hwang, J. Ichnowski, B. Thananjeyan, D. Seita, S. Paradis, D. Fer, T. Low, and K. Goldberg
   IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2023
5. K-FLEX: A Flexible Robotic Platform for Scar-Free Endoscopic Surgery
   M. Hwang and D. S. Kwon
   The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery, 2020

Full publication list →

Selected Honors & Awards

• 2026-07-03
  Excellence Award (2nd Overall)

  2026 Humanoid Challenge · Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Award
• 2026-06-04
  1st Place Award

  Autonomous AI, Real dVRK Track · AI for Robotic Surgery Competition, ICRA 2026
• 2026-04-10
  Excellence Award

  RB-Y1-based Humanoid Laparoscopic Surgical System · Humanoid Real-World Challenge
• 2019-11-06
  Top 10 Mechanical Engineering Technology of 2019

  Flexible Endoscopic Surgery Robot, K-FLEX · Korean Federation of Mechanical Engineering Societies
• 2018-06-29
  Best Application Award and Overall Winner

  Flexible Endoscopic Surgery Robot, K-FLEX · Surgical Robot Challenge 2018

All honors & awards →