Kat Steele won the Junior Faculty Award for her novel and innovative research in biomechanics, high level of commitment to students and teaching, enhancement of participation of under-represented groups, and a direct contribution to the quality of the life of kids with cerebral palsy. Congratulations, Kat! The Mechanical Engineering department was awarded three of the total eight awards for the College of Engineering. Congratulations to Mark Jankauski for winning the Student Teaching Award and Eric Seibel who won the Faculty Research Award.
Awards
Kat Steele is awarded the American Society of Biomechanics Young Investigator Award
Our lab is very happy to announce that Dr. Kat Steele is the winner of the prestigious American Society of Biomechanics Young Investigator Award. This annual award recognizes early achievements by promising young scientists. Kat will present her work during a special awards session at the annual ASB meeting August 2-5, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. She will also be featured in an article in the Journal of Biomechanics. Go Kat!
Congratulations to Bradley Wachter and Michael MacConnell on being named Mary Gates Scholars
Michael and Bradley, both undergraduate researchers in the Ability and Innovation Lab, have individually earned the title of Mary Gates Scholars. The Mary Gates Research Scholarship is highly competitive and allows students to focus more attention and time on their research projects while being supported financially for two quarters. Michael will continue working on the ankle foot orthosis (AFO) project which utilizes motion tracking, ultrasound, and finite element analysis to find the optimal stiffness. Bradley will be developing a low-cost, open source orthosis to improve mobility for individuals with impaired hand function. Congratulations to you both!
Two NIH R01 Grants Funded
The Ability & Innovation Lab is excited to announce that two of our recent grant proposals have been funded! This funding will help to accelerate our mission to improve movement for individuals with neurologic disorders.
Quantifying patient-specific changes in neuromuscular control in cerebral palsy: Funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, this research will examine how new measures of neuromuscular control can be used to better predict outcomes after multi-level orthopaedic surgery for individuals with cerebral palsy. We will be working in close partnership with Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, one of the leading institutions in the management of pediatric neurological disorders. This research will address the challenge of identifying the best treatment for each individual. Cerebral palsy is caused by a brain injury and every brain injury is unique. We will be using new measures from muscle synergy analysis (see prior work here) to determine how patient-specific measures of control can be used to predict outcomes after surgery.
Ubiquitous rehabilitation to improve movement after neurologic injury: Funded by the joint NSF-NIH Smart & Connected Health Initiative, this research will work in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin to use flexible electrodes to track and train muscle activity after stroke and other neurologic injuries. We know that more practice and use after brain injury increases long-term recovery and function. This research will investigate new pathways for both motivating patients to re-learn to use their muscle and providing doctors and therapists with the data and insight needed to guide and customize therapy.
2015 Levinson Emerging Scholar
Sasha Portnova has been named one of ten 2015 Levinson Emerging Scholar’s! This is a highly competitive program supporting talented and highly motivated undergraduates who want to pursue creative and advanced bioscience and related research. As a Levinson Emerging Scholar, she will receive funding to support her research, including funding to present their findings at a professional conference. The award will support Sasha’s on-going research to improve the design of affordable, 3D-printed orthoses for individuals with spinal cord injury and other neurologic disorders. She will also be presenting this work at the American Academy of Orthotists & Prosthetists in Orlando, March 9-11, 2016.
Congratulations Sasha!