I am a PhD candidate at Stanford University dedicated to the human-centered design of assistive devices, particularly lower-limb exoskeletons, for people with reduced mobility. I specialize in studying human-exoskeleton co-adaptation: how people learn to walk with exoskeletons and how these devices can best adapt to human behavior.
Driven by a human-first approach to engineering, I have studied at the intersection of biomechanics, robotics, neuroscience, psychology, and ethics. Through research and project-based coursework, I have accumulated extensive experience working with human subjects, co-designing, and mixed-methods data collection. I am committed to creating solutions that are not only technologically advanced but also ethically grounded and truly responsive to human needs.
I was a teenager when I first witnessed the impact of assistive technologies to restore mobility. Wanting to contribute to doing good in this way, I began an independent research project to explore brain-computer interfacing. I built a humanoid robot and miniature wheelchair using off-the-shelf hardware and explored mappings of electroencephalography signals to natural language robot commands.
When I started at Olin College of Engineering, I assisted Professor Sam Michalka in setting up the Human Augmentation Laboratory: a space dedicated to neurotechnology R&D activities. For four years here, I performed brain-computer interfacing research using clinical-grade EEG technologies for robust classification of various mental states.
I also acted as a psychology research assistant for Professor Jon Adler studying narrative identity. Our work investigated the relationship between the body and mind at the intersection of disability studies and personality psychology, providing a new perspective on human needs at the center of assistive technology development.
Moving to Stanford for my graduate work, I continued to study biomechanics, robotics, automatic controls, and neurotechnology. At the Stanford Biomechatronics Laboratory, under the advisement of Professor Steve Collins, my dissertation work has entailed (i) the novel formulation of multi-objective human-in-the-loop optimization to improve energy economy and walking speed for older adults, (ii) the characterization of biomechanical gait changes during motor adaptation to exoskeleton assistance, and (iii) the development of personalized training paradigms to improve motor learning and perception of exoskeleton use.