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Siobhan Rigby Oca

Assistant Professor of The Practice in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Overview


Siobhan Oca's research focusses on medical robotics and robotics education. Specifically, she is interested in developing safe and effective autonomous medical procedures. Her doctoral research focussed on development of autonomous ultrasound scanning with robotic arm, implemented in a human study, which also assessed trust and safety. Since starting as faculty, she studies the methods used in teaching robotics to understand their efficacy in student learning and perception of robotics as a future career field.  

She leads the Masters programs in Robotics for MEMS and is passionate about robotics curricula development that prepares students for their future in robotics and impacts on society, including through her Case Studies of Ethics in Robotics and Autonomy course.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Assistant Professor of The Practice in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science · 2022 - Present Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Pratt School of Engineering
Assistant Director for Robotics and Autonomy in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science · 2022 - Present Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Pratt School of Engineering
Director of Masters Studies in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science · 2025 - Present Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Pratt School of Engineering

In the News


Published January 30, 2025
Not Your Parents’ Robots: Preparing Future Tech Leaders
Published November 14, 2024
Pratt Researchers Imagine Robots of Tomorrow, From the Surgical Table to Outer Space
Published October 29, 2024
‘Character Forward’ Aims to Build Better Engineers

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Recent Publications


Implementing and Using ROS in Undergraduate Robotics Curricula

Conference ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Conference Proceedings · June 23, 2024 This review aims to elucidate multiple options, challenges, and opportunities to incorporate ROS into undergraduate robotics courses. First, the importance of ROS in the robotics research and industry community is discussed as motivation to learn how to us ... Cite

Trust, Safety and Efficacy of Autonomous Robotic Ultrasound Vascular Imaging Collection on Human Subjects

Conference 2024 33rd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (ROMAN) · 2024 Cite

Board 147: Work-in-Progress: The Effect of Summarizing a Research Article on Students' Area of Robotics Interest

Conference ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Conference Proceedings · June 25, 2023 Cite
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Recent Grants


Automated Vascular Access for Spaceflight

ResearchGraduate Student · Awarded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration · 2020 - 2021

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Education, Training & Certifications


Duke University · 2022 Ph.D.
University of California San Francisco, School of Medicine · 2017 M.S.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology · 2016 B.S.