August 28, 2024

In a three-minute pitch to a full room of students, staff and faculty, Riya Dhiman managed to tell a story from her childhood, talk about her summer research studying human behavior and brain activity, and introduce the crowd to Pepper, a robot that interacted with research participants on collaborative tasks.

Riya, biomedical engineering ‘28, impressed the judges and received a $250 gift card for her winning delivery at Undergraduate Research & Enrichment Program’s 2024 STAR Scholars Quick Pitch Competition finals in August.

With a single slide and 180 seconds, Riya distilled her research into a compelling argument for advancing robots beyond vacuuming floors and assisting surgeries to human-robot interaction optimization.

Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, Riya assessed the behavior of both Pepper and research participants to determine which features of the robot are most effective in improving teamwork.

“Imagine a surgical robot that can sense a surgeon's stress level and adjust its support accordingly,” Riya says in her pitch.

Second and third place gift cards went to David Chuquillanqui Cuenca, biomedical engineering 28 and Sam Simon, biological sciences ’28.