Yoshida Joins UCLA Faculty

Kyle Yoshida, S.B. '18, has joined the faculty of the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. First appointed an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in 2024, the former bioengineering concentrator at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) began his first year as a faculty member last month and will focus his lab on soft robotics, wearable technology, human-robot interaction and haptic devices.

As a bioengineering concentrator on the mechanical engineering track at SEAS, Yoshida was part of the Harvard Biodesign Lab. Advised by Conor Walsh, Paul A. Maeder Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Yoshida developed ultrasound imaging techniques to track movement in the calf muscle of the lower leg.

Following SEAS, Yoshida earned a master’s degree and then Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Stanford, focusing his thesis on mobile tactile displays. He then joined the Mechanically-Intelligent Autonomous Robotics Laboratory at Washington State University as a postdoctoral researcher in 2023.

Yoshida also founded the HONUA (“helping others navigate, understand and achieve”) Scholars, a STEM mentorship and development program for Native Hawaiians, in 2020. He continues to serve as executive director of the non-profit organization, which has received national recognition from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). He was also named an AISES Sequoyah Fellow in 2023 for his commitment to the organization, STEM and Native American communities.