Ben Leebron Awarded "Distinction in Research and Creative Works" by Rice University

We are proud to announce that our esteemed lab member, Ben Leebron, has been awarded the prestigious “Distinction in Research and Creative Works” by Rice University.

This is a university honor for graduating students that will be granted at Commencement and will appear on recipients’ transcripts and diplomas. To apply, CS students should submit a work or body of work that illustrates creativity, self-initiation, independence, perseverance, and dedication. In all cases, we expect that students who apply for distinction in undergraduate research in computer science will have produced something that goes beyond the traditional expectations of their coursework.

Ben’s successful application for this award cited his first authorship of the “B4P: Simultaneous Grasp and Motion Planning for Object Placement via Parallelized Bidirectional Forests and Path Repair” manuscript, which was submitted to IROS 2025. We anticipate hearing about its acceptance into this prestigious conference in late June.

This award underscores the high-quality research being conducted in our lab and highlights Ben’s own contribution to the RobotPI lab’s success. We congratulate Ben on this well-deserved recognition and look forward to his continued effort in future works.