Ugne Morkute

Ugne Morkute is a PhD researcher at New York University pursuing studies in the Human-Centered Design and Innovation program within the Technology Management and Innovation department. Her research centers on autonomous vehicles, emphasizing safety through improved design, trajectory planning, and human-vehicle interaction to develop safer cars for all users. Prior to NYU, Morkute worked in a lab at the University of Michigan developing self-feeding robots to assist individuals who cannot eat independently, resulting in a published study, and earlier conducted lab research at Leiden University in the Netherlands examining trust and group dynamics in autonomous vehicles, which also led to a published paper. She completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in the Netherlands, where her undergraduate psychology work involved using robots to support therapy for children with autism. Morkute attributes her path to hard work combined with aligning opportunities, supportive conversations, and valued contributions across labs. She serves as a mentor through ADP Mentoring for prospective undergraduate, master's, and PhD students, has organized accessible sports events for wheelchair users and blind individuals, and fundraises for organizations supporting people with traumatic brain injuries. Her professional values emphasize deeply understanding research participants by engaging with them beyond the lab to give back to the community, a perspective that extends to her personal commitment to seeing the world through others' eyes.