Education Information

• 2016 - Present: PhD student, Mechanical Engineering, A.R.M.A. Laboratory, Vanderbilt University
• 2015 - 2016: Research Fellow, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
• 2011 - 2015: B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Research Interests

• Design, Modelling, Control and Telemanipulation of Continuum Robots and Active Catheters
• Sensing Modules and Situational Awareness Aids for Surgery and Manufacturing in Confined Spaces
• Design of Biologically Inspired (Soft) Robots
• Minimally Invasive Surgery

Awards

• 2011-2015: United World Colleges (UWC) Davis Scholarship
• 2016-2017: Vanderbilt Engineering Graduate Fellowship
• 2018-2020: Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE) Training Fellowship

Publications at ARMA Lab

• Abah, C., Del Giudice, G., Shihora, N., Chitale, R., Simaan, N., "Towards Semi-Automated Mechanical Thrombectomy: Path Planning Considerations for a Double Articulated Microcatheter", the Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics, London, UK, 2019.
• Abah, C., Orekhov, A., Johnston, G., Yin, P., Choset, H., Simaan, N., "A Multi-modal Sensor Array for Safe Human-Robot Interaction and Mapping.", IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA), Montreal, Canada, 2019. [Video]
• Abah, C., Orekhov, A., Simaan, N., "Design Considerations and Redundancy Resolution for Variable Geometry Continuum Robots" , IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA), Brisbane, Australia, 2018. [Video]
• Yasin, R., Wang, L., Abah, C., Simaan, N., "Using Continuum Robots for Force-Controlled Semi-Autonomous Organ Exploration and Registration", the International Symposium on Medical Robotics (ISMR), Atlanta, GA, 2018 (finalist for best student paper award).
• Orekhov, A., Abah, C., Simaan, N. "Snake-Like Robots for Minimally Invasive, Single Port, and Intraluminal Surgeries", invited book chapter for the upcoming Encyclopedia of Medical Robotics, Jaydev Desai & Eds., World Scientific Publishing, 2017.

Prior Publications

• Holland, D., Abah, C., Velasco-Enriquez, M., Herman M., Bennett, G., Vela, E. and Walsh, C., "The Soft Robotics Toolkit: Strategies for Overcoming Obstacles to the Wide Dissemination of Soft-Robotic Hardware", IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 57-64,DOI: 10.1109/MRA.2016.2639067, 2017.
• Payne, C., Wamala, I., Abah, C., Thalhofer, T., Saeed, M., Bautisda-Salinas, D., Horvath, M., Vasilyev, N., Roche, E., Pigula, F. and Walsh, C., "An Implantable Extracardiac Soft Robotic Device for the Failing Heart: Mechanical Coupling and Synchronization", Soft Robotics Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 241 - 250, DOI 0.1089/soro.2016.0076, 2017.
• Payne, C.J., Wamala, I., Abah, C., Thalhofer, T., Saeed, M., Bautista-Salinas, D., Horvath, M.A., Vasilyev, N.V., Roche, E.T., Pigula, F.A. and Walsh, C.J., 2017, June. Wearable Soft Robotic Device Supports the Failing Heart in vivo. In The Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics (p. 37).
• Payne, C. , Wamala, I., Bautisda-Salinas, D., Saeed, M., Van Story, D., Thalhofer, T., Horvath, M., Abah, C., Pedro, J., Walsh, C., M., Vasilyev, "Soft robotic ventricular assist device with septal bracing for therapy of heart failure", Science Robotics, Vol. 2, No. 12, DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aan6736, 2017.

Contact Information

• This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/coletteabah/