Congratulations, Ben! Ben Shuman Passes His Ph.D. General Exam

Congratulations to Benjamin Shuman for passing his general exam! He is now officially a Ph.D. Candidate.

Ben’s Ph.D. committee agreed his scientific work to date and proposed final gait modeling project will culminate in the award of his Ph.D. in one year’s time.

To celebrate, a fellow lab member created a humorous photo with Ben’s face pasted into a movie still-frame. Congratulations again, Ben!

Jessica Zistatsis Successfully Defends Her Master’s Thesis

Jessica Zistatsis has successfully defended her Master’s Thesis here at the University of Washington, in Dr. Steele’s Ability & Innovation Lab.

To complete her Master’s in full, Jessica will be submitting and disseminating her thesis, A Passive Pediatric Exoskeleton to Improve the Walking Ability of Children with Neuromuscular Disorders.

To begin watching Jessica’s defense, you may view Part 1 on YouTube HERE, or directly below:


A silly congratulations graphic made by the lab depicting the fictional Godzilla stomping through downtown Seattle, while wearing PlayGait, the pediatric exoskeleton Jessica worked on for her masters. Test within the photo reads, "Congrats on destroying your defense, Jessica!"Our lab could not be more proud! To help celebrate her successful defense, the lab drafted a flyer depicting an empowered Godzilla wearing PlayGait, Jessica’s pediatric exoskeleton. Here’s hoping future children will use their newfound superpowers for good, unlike our friend in this picture!