Brenna ArgallView profile
Associate Professor
Brenna Argall is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University with joint appointments in the Departments of Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation . She is also a Faculty Research Scientist at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab , the nation’s premier rehabilitation hospital. Her research focuses on robotics autonomy, machine learning, and human rehabilitation , particularly in developing assistive and rehabilitation robotics that utilize shared control and interface-aware intelligence to enhance user autonomy. Education: Ph.D. in Robotics (2009), Carnegie Mellon University M.S. in Robotics (2006), Carnegie Mellon University B.S. in Mathematics (2002), Carnegie Mellon University Research Interests: Argall's work sits at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, and rehabilitation . Key themes include trust-based control systems, dynamic autonomy allocation, and human-in-the-loop machine learning . Her lab, the Assistive & Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory (argallab) , develops semi-autonomous wheelchairs, robotic arms, and adaptive control systems tailored to users’ physical and cognitive abilities. Projects emphasize customizable shared control, intent inference, and human-robot collaboration . Article Trends: Recent publications highlight advancements in shared autonomy, interface-aware robotics, and human-robot co-adaptation . Key areas include 7-DoF robot arm teleoperation, eye gaze tracking for control, high-dimensional body-machine interfaces, and trust-based dynamic control allocation , reflecting her lab’s focus on user-centric AI and rehabilitation technology . Scientific Awards: NSF CAREER Award (2016) Crain's Chicago Business 40 under 40 (2016) NSF Convergence Accelerator Phase 1 & 2 Awards (2022, 2024) AIMBE College of Fellows (2023) Office of Naval Research (ONR) Grant Advising & Grants: Argall advises students in the Masters of Science in Robotics program and has secured significant funding from NSF, NIH, and ONR for projects on self-driving wheelchairs, intent disambiguation, and trust-aware autonomy . Labs & Teams: As founder and director of the argallab , she leads a multidisciplinary team at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab . The lab’s mission is to advance human ability through robotics autonomy , focusing on motor-impaired users and human-robot co-adaptation .










