2023 news
I attended the 2023 Institute for Teaching and Mentoring.
October 28, 2023
The Institute on Teaching and Mentoring is the largest gathering of underrepresented minority Ph.D. scholars in the country. The Institute offers workshops, recruitment events, and networking opportunities to support Ph.D. scholars in their professional development. It aims to equip them with effective tools for success in academia and other relevant fields. The goal is to foster a safe environment for scholars to share insights, build a supportive community, enhance research and teaching strategies, and develop skills applicable to their chosen professions.
I presented at the 2023 International Consortium for Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR).
September 26, 2023
I presented a poster on my paper titled “The Study of Complex Manipulation via Kinematic Hand Synergies: The Effects of Data Pre-Processing” at Rehab Week 2023 in Singapore. RehabWeek is a well-established and highly reputable biennial conference that aims to cover inspiring innovations in Neurorehabilitation and their societal impacts. This year it was comprised of five different societies including the International Consortium for Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR).
My paper was selected as one of the top 60 submissions across the 5 different societies and I was selected to give a one minute elevator pitch for my research. Finally, MY POSTER WAS SELEECTED AS ONE OF THE TOP 15 POSTER PRESENTATIONS!
I was featured on the front page of MIT's website!
September 13, 2023
An article discussing my journey to and throughout gradaute school was featured on the front page of the MIT website! Check out the article here: A. Michael West: Advancing human-robot interactions in health care
I participated in the TrailBlazers in Engineering program for future faculty at Purdue.
July 24, 2023
I went to Purdue to participate in their TrailBlazers in Engineering program for future faculty in Engineering.
My third paper was accepted!
June 05, 2023
My paper titled “The Study of Complex Manipulation via Kinematic Hand Synergies: The Effects of Data Pre-Processing” was accepted to the International Consortium for Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR). I will be presenting this work in Singapore in September 2023.
I was awarded the Accenture Fellowship for the 2023-2024 Academic Year!
May 18, 2023
The Accenture Fellowship Fund was established in 2020 and is awarded to graduate students with research that has potentially significant implications for industry and technology convergence.
I visited Stanford as part of the Postdoctoral Recruitment Initiative in Science and Medicine (PRISM).
May 10, 2023
I visited Stanford as part of the Postdoctoral Recruitment Initiative in Science and Medicine (PRISM). While there I presented a talk titled “Exploring Human Performance: The Importance of Studying our Limitations” to both Allison Okamura’s Research Group (the Collaborative Haptics and Robotics in Medicine (CHARM) Lab) and Scott Delp’s Research group (the Neuromuscular Biomechanics Lab (NMBL)).
I presented at the Neural Control of Movement (NCM) Conference 2023!
April 18, 2023
I went to the city of Victoria, BC, Canada to participate in the Society for the Neural Control of Movement (NCM) Conference 2023. I presented both a poster titled “Reach-and-Grasp Hand Synergies differ from Manipulation Hand Synergies”. Paper coming soon!
MIT Mechanical Engineering Research Exhibition (MERE)
March 10, 2023
I received an honorable mention in the Best Overall Performance category at the Mechanical Engineering Research Exhibition (MERE) at MIT where I presented my work studying human hand synergies during tool-use and complex manipulation!
BAMIT Research SLAM!
February 23, 2023
I received 2nd place at the BAMIT research SLAM hosted by the Black Alumni at MIT (BAMIT)! I gave a 5 minute presentation summarizing my research on human hand manipulation.
I participated in the Focus Fellows Program at Georgia Tech!
January 12, 2023
Went to Georgia Tech to participate in their Focus Fellows Program for future faculty.