Werfel’s research interests are in the understanding and design of complex and emergent systems. His research includes work on swarm robotics, engineered molecular nanosystems, social insect behavior, evolutionary theory, and educational robotics. He completed his Ph.D. at MIT in 2006, developing algorithms to allow swarms of simple robots to autonomously build user-specified structures. His postdoctoral work included further exploration of collective construction at Harvard SEAS, work on the evolution of cooperative and altruistic behaviors at the New England Complex Systems Institute, and cancer modeling at Harvard Medical School/Children’s Hospital Boston.