A. Michael West Jr. received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Yale University in 2018, and his master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2020. He is currently a fifth-year PhD candidate in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) studying human motor control and robotics. His research seeks to better control algorithms for robots involved in human rehabilitation and dexterous manipulation. His ultimate goal is to one day operate his own lab, developing intelligent devices that assist humans. He counts the time he spent as a pod leader for the MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP) as his most rewarding graduate school experience. There, he helped minority scientists realize their research potential and better prepare them for graduate school. Michael also has served as the treasurer for both the Black Graduate Student Association and the Academy of Courageous Minority Engineers at MIT. As vice president of Yale’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, he founded a tutoring service at a local public school for students at risk of failing ninth-grade algebra. So far in 2023, he has participated in Stanford University’s Postdoctoral Recruitment Initiative in Sciences and Medicine and Georgia Tech’s Focus Fellows Program. It is his goal to become a professor who inspires Black students to pursue careers in engineering and impacts lives through education and mentorship.

Research Interests

Robotics, Controls, Human Motor Control, Rehabilitation