He works in the areas of robotics and control systems. His current interests are in bridge inspection robotic system developments, mobile sensor networks, and multi-robot systems. Dr. La is an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems. Dr. La has received the prestigious 2014 ASCE Charles Pankow Award for the development of Robotics Assisted Bridge Inspection Tool (RABIT). He is the recipient of 3 Best Paper Awards and a Best Presentation Award at international conferences.