Biography

Samuel Olatunji is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is the Director of the Human Factors Engineering for Autonomous Living (HEAL) Laboratory at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

He earned his PhD in Industrial Engineering from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2021, after completing his BSc and MSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria.

Before joining UT, he completed postdoctoral research in Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he contributed to human-robot interaction research in the Human Factors and Aging Laboratory and the McKechnie Family LIFE Home.

His research focuses on the design of human-robot systems and interfaces that support people in everyday activities, with particular emphasis on health, wellness, and quality of life. His work spans human-robot interaction, human factors engineering, healthcare systems, human-centered automation, interaction design, and intelligent systems development.

Education

• BSc (Hons.) Electrical Engineering. University of Ilorin (2006 – 2010), Ilorin, Nigeria
• MSc Electrical and Electronic Engineering. University of Ilorin (2012 – 2014), Ilorin, Nigeria
• PhD Industrial Engineering. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (2017 – 2021), Beer-Sheva, Israel

Courses Taught

• Human-Robot Interaction
• Information Systems Analysis and Design

Professional Service

• Healthcare Technology and Bioinformatics Track Chair, 2026, INFORMS Healthcare Conference
• Editorial Board, Embodied Intelligence and Robotics Journal, 2024-Date

Awards & Recognitions

• Summer Pre-College Service Award, High School Introduction to Engineering Systems for Twelfth Graders (HITES12), Tickle College of Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2026.
• Innovative Research on Aging Bronze Award for the article Immersive participatory design of assistive robots to support older adults, The Mather Institute, 2024.
• Early-stage researcher, European Commission Horizon 2020 Framework Scholarship, European Union, 2017 – 2021.