Gus Domel

From 2014 to 2018, he did research as a graduate student in the group of Katia Bertoldi, a professor of applied mechanics at Harvard. His doctoral dissertation, Bio-Inspired Design for Mechanical and Biomechanical Applications, drew inspiration from sharks and octopuses: on one hand, it used 3D printing, experiments, and numerical simulations to design surface structures modeled on shark denticles; on the other, it designed a versatile octopus-inspired soft gripping robot. It is listed as a 2019 doctoral dissertation of Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.⁠[1][2][3][3][3][3]

A study on which he was a co-first author was published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the result of a collaboration between evolutionary biologists and engineers at Harvard and researchers from the University of South Carolina. Using 3D printing, the team replicated the denticle structure of the shortfin mako shark on an airfoil and found that it can increase lift and reduce drag; as bio-inspired vortex generators, they achieved lift-to-drag ratio improvements of up to 323% compared with an airfoil without vortex generators, with potential applications in the design of airplanes, drones, and wind turbines.⁠[4][5][5][4][4][4][5][5]

Researchers at Harvard and Beihang University published a study on a soft robotic arm modeled on an octopus tentacle (the “Tentacle Bot”), which combines a tapered shape, bending, and suction cups to grip objects of various shapes. As a co-author of the paper, he said the robot could be used in assembly and manufacturing settings that require handling a wide range of objects.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2]

During his postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford, he researched bioengineering approaches to reducing concussions in sports and worked on developing sensor-embedded brain injury wearables. In August 2020, he submitted a paper as a co-author that used a pneumatic impactor to deliver football-like impacts to a Hybrid III headform in order to validate and compare the accuracy of five commonly used instrumented mouthguards in measuring head motion and brain deformation; the paper appeared in Annals of Biomedical Engineering, volume 48 (2020).⁠[6][7][8][8][8][8]

Before joining Boost VC’s investment team, he served as Chief Scientist & Director of Product at a brain health tech startup developing technologies to understand and prevent traumatic brain injury.⁠[7]

Boost VC announced his promotion to Principal. He had joined Boost VC about two years earlier as its very first investment associate, responsible for sourcing deals; over the preceding year, he had sourced 50% of the deals Boost VC invested in.⁠[6][6][6][6]

He was one of Stanford’s first esports coaches.⁠[9]

Boost VC: Official website: https://www.boost.vc/ (opens in a new window).⁠[9]

X: Public account: https://x.com/GusDomel (opens in a new window)⁠[9]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gus-domel/ (opens in a new window)⁠[9]