She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in 1989 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. Her graduate research involved programming a two-legged laboratory robot to run, accurately place its foot to avoid obstacles, climb stairs, and perform gymnastic maneuvers. Her current research focuses on the coordination and control of dynamic physical systems, both natural and human-made and explores techniques that may someday allow robots and animated creatures to plan and control their actions in complex and unpredictable environments. She has received a NSF Young Investigator Award, a Packard Fellowship, and a Sloan Fellowship.