Allison Okamura

Allison M. Okamura received the BS degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994, and the MS and PhD degrees from Stanford University in 1996 and 2000, respectively, all in mechanical engineering. She is currently Professor in the mechanical engineering department at Stanford University, with a courtesy appointment in computer science. She was previously Professor and Vice Chair of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. She is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. She has been an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Haptics, editor-in-chief of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation Conference Editorial Board, an editor of the International Journal of Robotics Research, and co-chair of the IEEE Haptics Symposium. Her awards include the 2020 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Technical Achievement Award, 2019 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Distinguished Service Award, 2016 Duca Family University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, 2009 IEEE Technical Committee on Haptics Early Career Award, 2005 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Academic Career Award, and 2004 NSF CAREER Award. She is an IEEE Fellow. Her academic interests include haptics, teleoperation, virtual environments and simulators, medical robotics, soft robotics, neuromechanics and rehabilitation, prosthetics, and education. Outside academia, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, running, and playing ice hockey.

Academic Appointments

• Professor, Mechanical Engineering
• Member, Bio-X
• Faculty Affiliate, Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)
• Member, Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance
• Member, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute

Honors & Awards

• Distinguished Service Award, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (2019)
• Stanford Fellow, Stanford University (2018-2020)
• Best Student Presentation Award (student author: Sean Sketch), IEEE Haptics Symposium (2018)
• Finalist, Best Paper in Human Robot Interaction, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (2018)
• Gilbreth Lecturer, National Academy of Engineers (2018)
• Tau Beta Pi Teaching Honor Roll, Stanford University (2018)
• Ten Robotics Technologies of the Year (Soft robot that navigates through growth), Science Robotics (2018)
• ACM CHI Best Paper Award, ACM SIGCHI 2017 conference (2017)
• Society of Scholars, Johns Hopkins University (2017)
• Duca Family University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University (2016)
• Best Student Paper Award (student author: Zhan Fan Quek), IEEE Haptics Symposium (2014)
• Robert Bosch Faculty Scholar, Stanford University (2011-2015)
• Gabilan Fellow, Stanford University (2011)
• IEEE Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (2010)
• Early Career Award, IEEE Technical Committee on Haptics (2009)
• Alumni Distinguished Scholar, Stanford University (2008)
• Decker Faculty Scholar, Johns Hopkins University (2007-2010)
• Award for Excellence, Outstanding Paper of the Year in Industrial Robot, Literati Club (2005)
• Early Academic Career Award, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (2005)
• CAREER Award, National Science Foundation (2004-2009)
• Diversity Recognition Award, Johns Hopkins University (2003)

Professional Education

• BS, University of California, Berkeley, Mechanical Engineering (1994)
• MS, Stanford University, Mechanical Engineering (1996)
• PhD, Stanford University, Mechanical Engineering (2000)