Kayla is a mechanical engineer and MIT graduate who served as team lead and system integrator on HeartBridge during its development, directing system architecture and subsystem integration across an 18-person team and presenting the final prototype at MIT’s public 2.009 launch event to an audience of over 30,000. She now works as an engineer at HeartBridge, focusing on outreach and conference engagement alongside her technical work. Her prior research at MIT’s d’Arbeloff Robotics Laboratory focused on structural testing and fabrication of soft robotic actuators. She was captain of MIT’s Division I varsity rowing team and a member of the Gordon MIT Engineering Leadership Program.