News

Juliana Iverson: 

Juliana Iverson is a PhD student in the Cockrell School of Engineering. She is a researcher in the Systems for Augmenting Human Movement Lab (SAHM), directed by Dr. Nick Fey. SAHM is focused on designing an advanced integrated robotics system for lower-limb prosthetics. This includes investigating relevant technologies to assist those with lower limb amputations. For her contribution, she is working on implementing the use of ultrasound sensing to predict human motion and improve the responding movement of a robotic prosthetic leg.

Her time at Texas Robotics prepares her for a future that will dramatically improve the quality of life for people in her community and the world. “I really like seeing everyone’s research and knowing we will make a big impact in the future,” says Juliana.  

Mobina Tavangarifard:

Mobina Tavangarifard is a first-year Mechanical Engineering PhD student at the Cockrell School of Engineering. In Texas Robotics, she works under Dr. Farshid Alambeigi in the Advanced Robotic Technology for Surgery Lab (ARTS Lab). She is focused on two different research projects. The first is leveraging biomedical simulations to investigate the biomechanical performance of the vertebra with different flexible medical screws. This is to support the design of more effective screw implants for spinal surgeries. Her second research project is focused on general robotic surgery; she is designing a fiberoptic sensor to reconstruct the bio-manipulator's position for surgical manipulation. She hopes that both of these projects will make a considerable impact on the safety and effectiveness of robotic surgery. 

Mobina enjoys being a part of Texas Robotics not just for the research, but for the ability to interact with many talented and welcoming people. Since moving to Austin from abroad, she has found a community of classmates, mentors, and friends in Texas Robotics. “I love being in Texas Robotics since the atmosphere here is super friendly,” says Mobina.

Corrie Van Sice:

Corrie Van Sice is a​​ Research Engineer and Scientist Associate in the Nuclear and Applied Robotics Group (NRG), supervised by Dr. Mitch Pryor. She worked at Texas Robotics as a Research Engineer for all Texas Robotics labs for a few years before shifting to this position, so she is familiar with Texas Robotics and its research. 

“I love my job,” says Corrie, who is indeed a jack of all trades when it comes to robotics. Her work in NRG assists with research projects that will revolutionize the high-risk workforce and will help keep humans safe for years to come. Corrie explains in-depth, “[In NRG,] we work on robots to take people out of dirty and dangerous situations. We have great research on robot manipulation projects, and we do radiation surveys to identify radiation in workspaces.” 

Sarah Go:

Sarah Go is an undergraduate student working in the Advanced Robotic Technology for Surgery lab, supervised by Dr. Farshid Alambeigi. She assists with research that is developing a system for a bone drill with flexible screws. This system will enable stronger, customized, bone screw implants and minimally invasive spinal surgeries. 

For Sarah, Texas Robotics is a great place to meet other roboticists and learn about the breadth of research that is being done. “What I like most about Texas Robotics is that it is a really cool environment, and people work on really interesting projects,” Sarah said. 

Amanda Adkins: 

Amanda Adkins is a Computer Science Ph.D. student in the College of Natural Sciences, working in the Autonomous Mobile Robotics Lab (AMRL), supervised by Dr. Joydeep Biswas. AMRL’s research is focused on the development of technologies to enable long-term autonomy, robots that can function independently for extended periods of time. Amanda is researching robot perception and localization to help robots identify where they are in the world for an improvement of autonomous movement. 

Amanda Adkins sees Texas Robotics as a hub of diverse and exciting research projects that can improve her understanding of robotics as a whole. “I can hop over one room next door, and someone’s working on something completely interesting and completely different than what I am working on,” Amanda said.