Orla (they/them) is a 4th year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. They complete research in both the Human Machine Design Lab under Dr. William Durfee and in the Medical Robotics and Devices Lab under Dr. Timothy Kowalewski. Orla’s thesis work focuses on determining if there is gender bias in competency based surgical skill evaluation using both crowdsourced and expert evaluations. They are involved in the department's diversity efforts by serving as the co-chair of the Mechanical Engineering Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. In the long term, Orla hopes to use this background to research competency-based skill evaluation in graduate and professional school with an intention to stay in academia. They intend to use this research along with their identity as a trans, queer engineer to promote fair practices that encourage LGBTQ+ students to pursue STEM degrees. Orla also has a background in controls engineering having worked on handheld robots, soft robotics, rehabilitation devices and measuring grip force.

Orla grew up in Park Ridge, IL and graduated in 2018 with a B.S in Biomedical Engineering from Marquette University Milwaukee, with majors in Biomechanics and Mathematics.  They are grateful to be awarded the ARCS Scholar award. They plan to use the money to upgrade equipment in their home office to increase productivity and towards a down payment on a house they hope to buy with their wife in 2022.