The Department of Mechanical Engineering is happy to recognize Gabriel Parra for receiving the 2026 Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award for the College of Engineering. This award recognizes his exceptional commitment to advancing research within the department. Parra is a member of the Human-Robot Empowerment Lab (HRELab) where he works with Dr. Laura Hallock and other undergraduate and graduate students.
The HRELab tackles thorny, interrelated challenges in assistive and rehabilitative robot system design. One of the main challenges in this work is defining “healthy.” When sensors are collecting neuromechanical and biomechanical data from a person, it isn’t obvious how a robot system should intervene to improve their quality of life.
“During my time at the HRELab, I’ve developed machine learning models that characterize the effect that robot-facilitated rehabilitation has on our neurological system, as well as how it changes our neuromotor behavior,” said Parra. “With better modeling techniques at our disposal, we can analyze how behavior is altered when a person suffers from a disease and exploit this knowledge to improve a robot system’s ability to assist and rehabilitate.”
Parra joined a group of 7 undergraduate and master’s researchers to help put together the initial robotic infrastructure for the HRELab. This work created the opportunity for the lab’s first user study and a paper that included Parra and two other undergraduate students.
“Undergraduate researchers are a core part of the HRELab ecosystem,” said Dr. Hallock, “providing everything from hands-on-deck for system development and study execution to novel ideas and authorship. Gabe joined the lab with substantial software development experience and built core parts of our lab platform from the get-go, while over time developing his own novel research ideas that are now turning into publications.”
With those publications, Parra and HRELab’s broader work has the potential to positively impact many people — and reinforces Dr. Hallock’s commitment to working with undergraduate researchers.
“Working with researchers like Gabe is my favorite part of this job,” said Dr. Hallock, “and he’s one of many. No student is an island, and this award is not only a testament to Gabe’s accomplishments, but those of the rest of my incredible team of PhD, master’s, and undergraduate students, as well as our external collaborators and consultants. The UROP program provides a great on-ramp for students looking to get involved in research. I encourage students who are interested in research to reach out to faculty early and broadly.”
“Thank you to my girlfriend, friends, and family that motivate me to pursue my passion,” said Parra. “I’m sure they are fed up hearing me talk about math and artificial intelligence all the time. Huge thanks to Dr. Laura Hallock, who nominated me for this award and who trusted me to look at our problems from a new perspective.”