Contact

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Education

• 2023-Present: Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University; Nashville, TN.
• 2018-2023: B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah; Salt Lake City, UT.

Research Interests

• Medical Robotics
• Haptics
• Computer Vision and AI

Journal Publications

• Sperry, A. J., Schwehr, T. J., Pinegar, E. K., Richards, O. B., Rolston, J. D., Alexander, M. D., ... & Kuntz, A. (2023). Screw-tip Soft Magnetically Steerable Needles. IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics.

Conference Publications

• Richards, O., Ahronovich, E., Joos, K., & Simaan, N. (2025). Robot-Informed Rapid Segmentation of Optical Coherence Tomography Images for Collaborative Ophthalmic Surgery. ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, Anaheim, California, USA.
  
• Richards, O., Ahronovich, E., Shihora, N., Yildiz, A., Atoum, J., Wu, J. W., Obstein, K. L., & Simaan, N. (2024). A Robotic Mediation Device for Skill Assessment and Training During Colonoscopy. IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Systems, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Short Papers and Abstracts

• Richards, O., Obstein, K. L., Simaan, N. (2025). Exploring Accelerated Skill Acquisition via Tandem Training for Colonoscopy. Hamlyn Symposium, London, UK, 2025.
• Richards, O.,  Ahronovich, E., Joos, K., & Simaan, N. (2025). Robust OCT Image Segmentation using Robot Kinematics. The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology| ARVO, May 4-8th, 2025, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
• Richards, O., Ahronovich, E., Joos, K., & Simaan, N. (2024). Robot-Assisted Image Segmentation for OCT. Southeastern Vision Research Conference, Nov. 11-12th, 2024, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
• Richards, O., Ahronovich, E., Shihora, N., Yildiz, A., Atoum, J., Wu, J. W., Obstein, K. L., & Simaan, N. (2024). A Novel Robotic Platform for Objective Technical Skill Assessment in Colonoscopy. American College of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting, Oct. 26-28th, 2024, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  
• Irwin, P., Bollwinkel, E., Richards, O., Monteiro, A., Smith, B., Ashby, M., Brignone, J., Battaglia, E. (2023) Wearable Haptics for Proprioception of Shoulder Movement. IEEE World Haptics Conference, Jul. 10-13th, 2023, Delft, Netherlands.

Experience

• May 2023 - July 2023: Associate Electromechanical Engineer - Northrop Grumman, Salt Lake City, UT
• Jan. 2022 - May 2023: Automation Engineering Intern - Northrop Grumman, Salt Lake City, UT
• May 2021 - Jan. 2022: Technical Intern - Northrop Grumman, Roy, UT

Awards

• NSF Graduate Research Fellow - National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Jun. 2025
• Lacy Fischer Interdisciplinary Research Grant - Vanderbilt University Graduate School. May 2025
• Outstanding Poster Presenter - American College of Gastroenterology National Meeting Poster Committee. Oct. 2024
• David Jorgensen Scholarship - College of Engineering, University of Utah. Aug. 2018 - May 2023
• Good Engineering Award - Mission Systems Intellectual Property Committee, Northrop Grumman. May 2023
• Good Engineering Award - Mission Systems Intellectual Property Committee, Northrop Grumman. Sep. 2022
• Global Summit Design Competition, 2nd place - Space Sector, Northrop Grumman. Aug. 2021