Aislinn McAleenan
Aislinn McAleenan, Research Fellow, Queen's University Belfast
Aislinn McAleenan is a mechanical engineer and Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, specialising in the design, development, prototyping and control of medical robots for minimally invasive surgery. She holds a First Class MEng and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, where her doctoral research focused on the design and control of a novel parallel robot, with a remote centre of motion for ophthalmic procedures.
Currently, Aislinn is the delivery lead for an Invest Northern Ireland Proof of Concept Grant enabling the technical and commercial development of CASPER, a patented robot design for eye surgery. Her work encompasses CAD design, kinematic modelling, simulation, precision metrology, manufacturing and early-stage regulatory strategy.
Aislinn combines technical expertise with entrepreneurial experience, having led multiple funded projects including Invest Northern Ireland Proof of Concept award stages and a QUBIS Enterprise Fellowship. She has actively engaged in customer discovery and stakeholder collaboration, conducting over 100 interviews to inform product development and building relationships across academia, healthcare and industry.
Her research contributions are reflected in a growing portfolio of peer-reviewed publications in robotics and medical engineering and have been recognised through several awards for research excellence. These include the Gold Best Research Paper Award at the 9th International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science (IFToMM) International Workshop on New Trends in Medical and Service Robotics, recognising significant achievement in medical and service robotics research; the First Place Poster Prize at the 8th Annual IEEE UK & Ireland Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Conference (2025); Best Overall Presentation at World Sight Day & Pan-Ireland Ophthalmology Day (2024); and 2nd Place at Techstars Startup Weekend DeepTech Belfast (2024), recognising innovation and commercial potential in deep technology development.