Abstract: Measurement-While-Drilling (MWD) technology is the process of real-time measurement of drilling parameters during the drilling process. MWD data can be correlated with the mechanical properties of intact rock and rock masses that are required for geotechnical projects such as foundations and/or underground structures design. Not only can this reduce the costs of site characterization and laboratory testing for geotechnical projects but also provides a continuous profile of the required parameters instead of the data at discrete locations usually taken from laboratory tests. Developing correlations between the MWD data and the desired mechanical properties based on field data, however, is time-consuming. Previous studies have shown that laboratory data can be used to reliably develop such relationships (Deng et al., 2022; Rodgers et al., 2018, 2020; Somerton, 1959; Teale, 1965). In this study, a laboratory rock coring drill press was instrumented to measure four drilling parameters during the coring, i.e., down pressure (thrust/crowd), torque, penetration rate, and rotation speed. The instrumented drill was then used to prepare core samples from gypsum rock blocks taken from an abandoned mine under one of the major highways in the state of Michigan, USA. The cores were then used to measure the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the intact gypsum rock under dry and saturated conditions. UCS is one of the major mechanical properties of intact rock required for analyzing the stability of abandoned underground mines under major highways. Finally, correlations were developed between the MWD data and the dry and saturated UCS of the gypsum rock. This paper presents the details of the lab drill instrumentation process, the results of the UCS tests on the gypsum rock, and the correlations between the MWD data and the UCS.