12/11/2025
Nigerian becomes the First Black Woman to Earn PhD in Robotics at University of Michigan.
🎓🤖 Breaking New Ground: Meet Dr. Wami Ogunbi — A Robotics Trailblazer!
At the ✨strict young age for doctoral achievement, Dr. Wami Ogunbi made history as the first Black woman to earn a PhD in Robotics from the University of Michigan (UMICH).
🔍 Here’s what sets her apart:
Her PhD research focused on developing a stair-climbing algorithm for underactuated bipedal robots—a significant contribution to robotics and human-machine interaction.
She didn’t stop there. In her post-doctoral work, she’s expanding that algorithm and created the “Biped Bootcamp”, a technical teaching module designed to make robotics accessible to students from diverse backgrounds.
Dr. Ogunbi is also the daughter of Nigerian immigrants and brings rich cultural background + academic excellence into her mission of diversifying STEM and robotics.
🚀 Her achievement is more than personal—it leads the way for others, lifts the barrier for Black women in robotics & shows that innovation happens when inclusion thrives.
đź‘Ź Congratulations, Dr. Wami Ogunbi! Your journey inspires and your next steps will no doubt change the future of robotics and STEM education.
