“I’m now technically building robots for NASA. It is a lifelong dream come true.” As a Tulsa native and Jenks High School alumna, Sarah Downs (B.S. ’24) found her ideal university after touring UTulsa. As an undergrad, she enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere, state-of-the-art facilities and the opportunity to pursue a minor in Chinese language. Today, she’s an electrical engineering grad student at UTulsa, working on projects that could one day support space missions and other electrical engineering avenues. Downs’ research at the university centers on robotics through UTulsa’s Institute for Robotics and Autonomy. She has contributed to a National Institute of Standards and Technology grant, designing an algorithm for robotic assembly insertion using only force and torque sensors, requiring no vision systems. Downs is also part of a contracted project focused on robotic assembly in space, known as the Reversible Thermally Driven Adhesive Project, working with a team of other graduate...