Department of Mechanical Engineering
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Rolf Müller


Rolf Mueller


Associate Professor

Mechanical Engineering

IALR
150 Slayton Avenue
Danville, VA 24540
(434) 766-6726
(434) 791-3279 FAX
rolf.mueller@vt.edu

Education Research
Teaching
Experience
Honors
Publications

Education

Ph.D.
 Animal Physiology University of Tuebingen

1998
M.S. Biology University of Tuebingen 1995
B.S.
 Biology

University of Tuebingen

1992

 

Research

  • See Brochure on Shandong University
  • Bio-Inspired Technology and Design Patterns in Nature
  • Integration of Structure and Sensing
  • Wave-based Sensing
  • Biosonar
  • Bat-Inspired Autonomous Robots

Teaching Activities

ME 4985/ME 5985 Bio-Inspired Technology

ME 3514 System Dynamics:

  • Mathematical descriptions of physical systems' behavior including mechanical, electrical, thermal, and fluid systems and their combinations; system descriptions using state variable and transfer functions; analysis of system responses; convolution integral, frequency response, numerical simulations, and Lapace transform methods; system concepts: input-output, causality, and analogies; general process descriptions including first-order, second-order, and time delayed. I, II.

 

Experience

Associate Professor Virginia Tech, Mechanical Engineering 2008 - Present
Professor School of Physics, Shandong University, China 2005-2008
Assistant Professor Maersk Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark 2003-2005

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Honors

  • Taishan Scholar Endowed Professorship, Shandong University, 2008
  • Top Ten Scholars in the News Award, Shandong University, 2006
  • Post-Doctoral Fellowship, NATO and DAAD, 1998-2000
  • Dissertation Award - School of Biology, Tuebingen University, 1999
  • PhD Scholarship-German National Merit Foundation, 1996-1998
  • Scholarship-German National Merit Foundation, 1993-1995

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Publications

  • Müller R., (2010) Numerical analysis of bisonar beam forming mechanisms and strategies in bats. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 127(5)(in press).
  • Wang, X., & R. Müller,(2009): Pinna-rim skin folds narrow the sonar beam in the Lesser False Vampire Bat. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 126(6), 331118.
  • Zhang, Z, S.T. Nguyen, & R. Müller,(2009): Acoustic Effects accurately predict an extreme case of biological morphology. Phys. Rec. Lett. 103(3), 038701 (4pages).
  • Müller, R., H. Lu, & J. R. Buck (2008): Sound-diffracting flap in the
    ear of a bat generates spatial information. Phys. Rev. Lett. 100(10),108701­4

  • Zhuang, Q. & R. Müller (2007): Numerical study of the effect of the
    noseleaf on biosonar beam- forming in a horseshoe bat. Phys. Rev. E
    76(5), 051902­1­11. (featured as a Research Highlight in Nature
    450(22), p. 460).

  • Müller, R. & R. Kuc (2007): Biosonar-inspired technology: Goals,
    challenges, and insights.  Bioinsp. Biomim. 2, S146­61. (invited
    contribution)..

  • Zhuang, Q. & R. Müller (2006): Noseleaf furrows in a horseshoe bat act
    as resonance cavities shaping the biosonar
    beam. Phys. Rev. Lett. 97(21), 218701­4. (featured on journal cover)..

  • Müller, R. & H. Peremans (2006): Handbook of Neural Engineering,
    vol. 4 of IEEE Press Series on Biomedical Engineering,
    chap. Biomimetic Integration of Neural and Acoustic Signal Processing. Wiley-IEEE Press, pp. 281­96.

  • Müller, R., H. Lu, S. Zhang, & H. Peremans (2006): A helical biosonar
    scanning pattern in the Chinese Noctule, Nyctalus plancyi. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 119(6), 4083­92.

  • Müller, R. & J. C. T. Hallam (2005): Knowledge mining for biomimetic smart antenna shapes.  Robotics and Autonomous Systems 50, 131­45.

  • Streicher, A., R. Müller, H. Peremans, M. Kaltenbacher, & R. Lerch
    (2004b): Ferroelectrets: Ultra- sonic transducer for a biomimetic
    sonar system. In: Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE Ultrasonics
    Symposium. pp. 1142­45.

  • Streicher, A., R. Müller, J. C. T. Hallam, H. Peremans, & R. Lerch
    (2004a): Ultrasonic transducers for matching the performance of
    natural sonar systems. In: Proceedings of the Joint Congress CFA/DAGA 2004. pp. 1015­16.
  • Peremans, H. & R. Müller (2003): A comprehensive robotic model for
    neural & acoustic signal processing in bats. In: Proceedings of the
    1st International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering. IEEE EMBS. pp. 458­61
  • Müller, R. (2003): A computational theory for the classification of
    natural biosonar targets based on a spike code. Network:
    Comput. Neural Syst. 14, 595­612.
  • Müller, R. & H.-U. Schnitzler (2001): Computational assessment of an
    acoustic flow hypothesis for cf-bats. In: Computational models of
    auditory function (S. Greenberg & M. Slaney, eds.), vol. 312. IOS
    Press. ISBN 9051994575. pp. 141­50.
  • Peremans, H., R. Müller, J. M. Carmena, & J. C. T. Hallam (2000): A
    biomimetic platform to study perception in bats. In: Proceedings of
    the SPIE Symposium on Sensor Fusion and Decentralized Control in
    Robotic Systems III, Proc. of SPIE (G. T. McKee & P. S. Schenker,
    eds.), vol. 4196. Boston. pp. 168­89.
  • Müller, R. & H.-U. Schnitzler (2000): Acoustic flow perception in
    cf-bats: extraction of parameters.  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 108(3),
    1298­307.
  • Müller, R. & R. Kuc (2000b): A parsimonious signal representation of
    random echoes based on a biomimetic spike code. In: Proceedings of the
    ICSC Symposia on Intelligent Systems and Applications. ICSC Academic
    Press, Canada. ISBN 3-906454-24-X. pp. 915­21.
  • Müller, R. & R. Kuc (2000a): Foliage echoes: a probe into the
    ecological acoustics of bat echolocation. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 108(2),
    836­45.
  • Müller, R. & H.-U. Schnitzler (1999): Acoustic flow perception in
    cf-bats: properties of the available cues. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 105(5),
    2958­66.

 

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