People, papers and presentations

Marcia O’Malley, a professor of mechanical engineering and computer science, has been named one of 18 fellows in the Executive Leadership in Academic Technology and Engineering program at Drexel University. The development program is designed to advance senior women faculty in academic engineering, computer science and other STEM fields to leadership roles. The yearlong program includes three weeklong sessions and concludes with a symposium in March 2019. O’Malley’s Mechatronics and Haptic Interfaces Lab at Rice specializes in robotics, particularly for rehabilitation and to augment human performance.

Fred Oswald, a professor of psychology and Herbert S. Autrey Chair, served as the closing keynote speaker for the Big Data for Psychological Sciences conference May 17-19 at Purdue University. In his remarks, Oswald discussed what continuous improvement might mean in the context of prediction with big data that reflect human attributes.