Softball Player and Robot Builder Lael Ayala ’26

Why It Matters

Ayala’s project illustrates how collegiate engineering, athletics and military training can converge to produce startup-ready, applied robotics—showing a practical path from thesis prototype to commercial venture in sports automation. This signals growing demand for autonomous field-maintenance solutions and talent pipelines that combine multidisciplinary skills.

Summary

Lael Ayala, a Harvard freshman, balances life as an outfielder on the Crimson softball team, an Army ROTC cadet, and a mechanical engineering student building a robotics startup. For her senior thesis she is designing “Soft Bot,” an autonomous robot that uses cameras and machine learning to locate, scoop and collect softballs from grass fields. Ayala emphasizes leadership and personal development from ROTC and athletics, and plans to pursue Gander Robotics as her full-time career after five years of Army service. Her work blends mechanical, electronic and software design into a single field-ready system.

Original Description

Lael Ayala ’26 has spent her time at Harvard balancing a busy schedule. A mechanical engineering concentrator, she is also an outfielder on the varsity softball team and a member of the Army ROTC. For her thesis project, she combined her love of softball and robotics to build a softball-collecting autonomous robot named "Softbot."

Originally from just outside of Atlanta, Georgia, Ayala has always been fascinated with how things work. She's also been a gifted athlete from a young age, eventually deciding to pursue softball at the Division I level. Ayala chose to attend Harvard in order to be able to pursue all her interests at once and to be part of a team that would support her growth.