Teaching Strengths
Dr Sajeeva Abeywardena
Lecturer
School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering and Information Technology
Born, raised and majority educated in Adelaide; I have been with the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Adelaide University as a Lecturer in Robotics and Mechatronics since February 2026. After 8 years as a Postdoc and Lecturer at four universities in the UK; I joined Adelaide University at its establishment, excited at the prospect to ensure the rigour and world class standards I experienced as a student of the University of Adelaide are maintained for future generations and to motivate further robotics research activities in South Australia - the Heaps Good State.
My research aim is to develop technology for the benefit and advancement of society; specifically, applications with humans in the loop. Concurrently, I believe that the use of fundamental mechanism theory and mathematics is imperative to the development of elegant solutions to complex engineering problems. My interests lie at the intersection of neuromechanics, biomechanics, control theory, robotics and physics-informed neural networks. Currently I am actively researching estimation algorithms for neuromotor assessment in human balance; the application of robotics to investigate causality of the neuro-diverse motor condition Developmental Co-ordination Disorder; and the development of wearable robots such as supernumerary robotic limbs to augment human motion.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 - ongoing | Lecturer in Robotics and Mechatronics | Adelaide University |
| 2024 - 2026 | Lecturer in Robotics | University of Surrey |
| 2021 - 2023 | Postdoctoral Research Associate | Queen Mary University of London |
| 2020 - 2021 | Postdoctoral Research Associate | Imperial College London |
| 2018 - 2019 | Postdoctoral Research Associate | Bristol Robotics Laboratory |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monash University | Australia | PhD | |
| University of Adelaide | Australia | Bachelor of Mechatronic Engineering (First Class) | |
| University of Adelaide | Australia | Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Anwar, E., Abeywardena, S., Miller, S. C., & Farkhatdinov, I. (2025). How Robots Can Support Balancing in Healthy People. IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, 7(1), 213-229. |
| 2024 | Abeywardena, S., Osman, Z., & Farkhatdinov, I. (2024). Modelling human postural stability and muscle activation augmented by a supernumerary robotic tail.. Bioinspiration & biomimetics, 19(6), 066003. |
| 2024 | Abeywardena, S., Anwar, E., Charles Miller, S., & Farkhatdinov, I. (2024). Mechanical Characterization of Supernumerary Robotic Tails for Human Balance Augmentation. Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, 16(6). |
| 2023 | Abeywardena, S., & Farkhatdinov, I. (2023). Towards Enhanced Stability of Human Stance With a Supernumerary Robotic Tail. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 8(9), 5743-5750. |
| 2019 | Abeywardena, S., Yuan, Q., Tzemanaki, A., Psomopoulou, E., Droukas, L., Melhuish, C., & Dogramadzi, S. (2019). Estimation of Tool-Tissue Forces in Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery Using Neural Networks. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 6, 56. Scopus29 Europe PMC9 |
| 2017 | Abeywardena, S., & Chen, C. (2017). Inverse dynamic modelling of a three-legged six-degree-of-freedom parallel mechanism. Multibody System Dynamics, 41(1), 1-24. Scopus20 |
| 2017 | Abeywardena, S., & Chen, C. (2017). Implementation and evaluation of a three-legged six-degrees-of-freedom parallel mechanism as an impedance-type haptic device. IEEE ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 22(3), 1412-1422. Scopus26 |
| 2012 | Chen, C., Gayral, T., Caro, S., Chablat, D., Moroz, G., & Abeywardena, S. (2012). A Six Degree of Freedom Epicyclic-Parallel Manipulator. Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, 4(4). Scopus31 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Psomopoulou, E., Persad, R., Koupparis, A., Abeywardena, S., Sani, M. F., Melhuish, C., & Dogramadzi, S. (2020). Evaluation of Force Feedback for Palpation and Application of Active Constraints on a Teleoperated System. In IFMBE Proceedings (Vol. 76, pp. 1571-1580). Springer International Publishing. DOI Scopus1 |
| 2020 | Abeywardena, S., Psomopoulou, E., Sani, M. F., Tzemanaki, A., & Dogramadzi, S. (2020). Control of a da Vinci EndoWrist Surgical Instrument Using a Novel Master Controller. In IFMBE Proceedings (Vol. 76, pp. 1545-1550). Springer International Publishing. DOI Scopus1 |
| 2020 | Fattahi Sani, M., Abeywardena, S., Psomopoulou, E., Ascione, R., & Dogramadzi, S. (2020). Towards Finger Motion Tracking and Analyses for Cardiac Surgery. In IFMBE Proceedings (Vol. 76, pp. 1515-1525). Springer International Publishing. DOI Scopus3 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Anwar, E., Abeywardena, S., Miller, S. C., & Farkhatdinov, I. (2024). Design and Validation of a Wearable Robotic Tail for Human Balance Support. In 2024 10th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob) (pp. 895-900). IEEE. DOI |
| 2022 | Abeywardena, S., Anwar, E., Miller, S., & Farkhatdinov, I. (2022). Human balance augmentation via a supernumerary robotic tail. In Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society EMBS Vol. 2022-July (pp. 2878-2881). United States: IEEE. DOI Scopus6 |
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'Data-driven models of neuro-muscular states for physical human-robot interaction', UK-RAS Network Plus, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, May 2025-July 2026
Adelaide University
- ENGM3000 Mechatronics Foundations (2026 -)
University of Surrey
- Design Skills (2024-2025)
- Design, Make, Evaluate (2025)
- Aircraft Structures (2025)
- Medical Robotics (2025)
Connect With Me
External Profiles
Available For Media Comment.