DR. DAVID HU
MECHANICAL ENGINEER AND BIOLOGIST
“How do wombats make cube-shaped poo? How do elephants grab items with their trunks?”
Dr. David Hu investigates these questions, providing us with the answers we didn’t know we needed! In his words: “I have a dream job of answering questions everyone is wondering about. I get a front row seat to unwrapping nature's mysteries.”
Results from his studies are used to create more effective robots and other devices. A notable example is when him and his students were able to design lightweight robots that could walk on water after watching insects do the same.
Dr. David Hu was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for his studies on animal peeing times and wombat cube-shaped poo. In addition, his work has been featured in The Economist, The New York Times, National Geographic, Popular Science, and Discover.
Further resources
(some links may be repeated from above)
Plus, his profile from Georgia Tech—he is a professor here
Watch: Confessions of a Wasteful Scientist by Dr. David Hu!
Interview with Dr. Hu through the New York Times: The Mysteries of Animal Movement.
Buy! How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls, a book on animal movement and its applications in science.
Follow him on Twitter: @drdavidhu