Nature-Informed Robotic Motion (NaRoM) Research Hub

Biography

Khanh Nguyen is a postdoctoral researcher at the National Research Laboratory for Bioinspired Systems, Konkuk University (KU), South Korea. His research is primarily supported by grants from the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT), funded by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), as well as the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Korea government. Prior to his master's and PhD studies at KU, Nguyen obtained a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), Vietnam. At HCMUT, he completed a highly selective 5-year Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering program jointly established by the French and Vietnamese governments, namely the Programme de Formation d'Ingénieurs d'Excellence du Vietnam - PFIEV. The program delivers a high-quality engineering curriculum totaling 274 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits. It is designed to train outstanding engineers, accredited by the Commission des Titres d’Ingénieur (CTI) in France, and authorized by the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE) to award the European Accredited Engineer (EUR-ACE) label.

He is currently a recipient of the BK21 Fellowship for postdoctoral scholars, which is granted by the Korea government in 2026. He also received several awards, including the Outstanding Dissertation Award from Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (Bioengineering Division), Excellent Academic Award from the College of Engineering at Konkuk University, Best Conferece Paper Awards at the International Conference on Intelligent Unmanned Systems (second author, 2022; first author, 2025) and the Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences (second author, 2024), Excellent Student of HCMUT (2018), Quintessential Student of HCMUT (2014 & 2017), as well as the prestigious Quintessential Student Distinction of Tran Phu High School and Top 1% Nationwide ranking in the Vietnam National University Entrance Examination (2013).

Nguyen's research focuses on the insect-like flapping-wing robots and tail-beat underwater robotic fish. He has published seven peer-reviewed journals, including two second-authored articles during his bachelor’s studies (as a primary contributor); two first-authored articles during his master’s studies; and three publications during his PhD (two first-authored and one second-authored). As part of his doctoral studies, he has two additional manuscripts currently under review, including one as first author, and is currently working on two further first-authored manuscripts, including one as co-first author.

Beyond his research, Nguyen leads several student groups at HCMUT working on bioinspired locomotion. His goal is to help students understand motion principles in nature through simulations and to encourage them to further develop and apply these concepts in unmanned vehicle systems. He welcomes opportunities for collaboration and partnerships in related fields.

Recent News

April 2026 | Yeosu, South Korea

Khanh has been selected for the Excellent Dissertation Award by the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (Bioengineering Division). Among the five doctoral awardees this year from top institutions including Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Seoul National University (SNU) - Khanh is the only international recipient of this honor.

His award-winning dissertation Scaling-based Approach for Designing Fish-inspired Robots Swimming at High Speed and Propulsive Efficiency is recognized for its originality and significant contributions to the advacement of science and technology.

In particular, unlike other conventional design approaches for robotic fish that rely heavily on trial-and-error methods, this dissertation proposes a comprehensive, scalable design framework. It systematically considers key parameters such as estimated swimming speed, required frequency and torque for motor selection, and targeted energy-efficient swimming performance.

March 2026 | Seoul, South Korea

Khanh continues his work as a postdoc at KU, where his research is supported by the government-funded Brain Korea 21 Program (BK21).

February 2026 | Seoul, South Korea

Khanh is the recipient of the KU Excellent Academic Award. This prize is granted to the Best PhD Graduate who has published multiple research articles in top 10% journals as first author and achieved a high number of citations over the past five years at KU. From 2021 to 2025, he published four journals, along with another manuscript currently under third-round peer review, expected to be published in late 2026. He has accumulated over 90 citations as of February 2026 by Scopus, with an h-index of 5, which is the highest among all PhD graduates in the Engineering College at KU.

December 2025

Khanh's new preprint released on SSRN Scaling-Based Design Approach for Tailbeat Fish-Inspired Robots Swimming at High Speed and Propulsive Efficiency.

July 2025 | Bali, Indonesia

Khanh receives the Best Student Paper Award at the International Conference on Intelligent Unmanned Systems.

November 2024 | Gangwon, South Korea

As second author, Khanh receives the Best Student Paper Award at the 2024 Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences Conference. Congratulations to Giheon Ha on his outstanding work and presentation.