Marcia Kilchenman O'Malley is an American mechanical engineer, the Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering and associate dean for research and innovation for the

George R. Brown School of Engineering The George R. Brown School of Engineering is an academic school at Rice University in Houston, Texas. It contains the departments of Bioengineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computational Applied ...

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

. Her research concerns "systems for enhancing the human sensorimotor control system", including work on

exoskeleton An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...

neuroprosthetics Neuroprosthetics (also called neural prosthetics) is a discipline related to neuroscience and biomedical engineering concerned with developing neural prostheses. They are sometimes contrasted with a brain–computer interface, which connects the ...

haptic technology Haptic technology (also kinaesthetic communication or 3D touch) is technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. These technologies can be used to create virtual objects in a computer ...

, and

brain–computer interface A brain–computer interface (BCI), sometimes called a brain–machine interface (BMI) or smartbrain, is a direct communication pathway between the brain, brain's electrical activity and an external device, most commonly a computer or robotic l ...

Education and career

O'Malley is a 1996 graduate of

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, where she majored in mechanical engineering. She went to

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

for graduate study, earning a master's degree in 1999 and completing her Ph.D. in 2001. She has been on the Rice University faculty since 2001, and holds courtesy appointments in electrical and computer engineering and computer science at Rice, and in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the

Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a medical school and research center in Houston, Texas, within the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center. BCM is composed of four academic components: the School of Medicine, the Graduate Sc ...

and

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is a public academic health science center in Houston, Texas, United States. It was created in 1972 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents. It is located in the T ...

. Before being named the Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor, she was Stanley C. Moore Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Recognition

O'Malley was named an

ASME Fellow The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

in 2014. In 2019 she was named an

IEEE Fellow As of 2019, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has 5,082 members designated Fellow, each of whom is associated with one of the 41 societies under the IEEE. The Fellow grade of membership is the highest level of membershi ...

"for contributions to rehabilitation robotics and haptic systems", and in 2022 she was named a Fellow of the

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, and headquartered in Washington. It represents 50,000 medical and biomedical engineers, and academic institutions, private industry, ...

for her "outstanding contributions to rehabilitation robotics, haptics and robotic surgery". In 2019, Purdue University gave her their Outstanding Mechanical Engineer Award. In 2020 she was named the ASME Dynamic Systems and Controls Division Nyquist Lecturer.

References

External links

Mechatronics and Haptic Interfaces lab
* {{DEFAULTSORT:OMalley, Marcia Living people American mechanical engineers American women engineers Purdue University alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Rice University faculty Fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Fellow Members of the IEEE 1975 births