Engineering to enhance human mobility, play, and exploration
EDUCATIONNick’s research is focused on using off-the-shelf and consumer devices to quantify patients’ progress during rehabilitation. He is also involved in the development of OpenMC, an accurate & affordable platform for Clinical Motion Analysis.
EDUCATIONBS in Neuroscience — University of Washington
Darrin is interested in elucidating the computations employed by the nervous system to organize, control, and adaptively modify locomotion. In addition to providing managerial support to the lab, he investigated the dynamics of locomotive control within human-machine interfacing with Dr. Sam Burden, a collaborator from UW’s Electrical Engineering department.
EDUCATIONMS, Mechanical Engineering – University of Washington
BS, Mechanical Engineering – University of Washington
Jessica is interested in developing rehabilitation devices such as exoskeletons and prostheses. With the award of a New England Pediatric Device Consortium grant, she furthered the design and testing of a pediatric exoskeleton for children with neurological walking disabilities such as cerebral palsy.
Hiking, Cooking, Reading
EDUCATIONHeather Feldner is currently a faculty member in Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington, and was previously a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Ability & Innovation Lab. Her research interests focus on learning the ways in which beliefs about dis/ability, human performance, and technology influence stakeholder experiences of disability and rehabilitation. She is especially interested in exploring how these stakeholder views drive their perceptions and expectations of technology utilized to affect rehabilitation outcomes, accessibility, and participation. Heather’s previous research has explored these qualitative perceptions and experiences, in order to contribute to a more complete picture of technology use and provision processes, and the effects of technology on stakeholder experiences. Heather’s other research interests include qualitative and participatory action research, social justice and disability theory, universal design, early powered mobility for children, and re-imagining graduate health sciences curriculum to not only be more inclusive to disabled students, but also to be open to more diverse meanings of disability.
EDUCATIONPhD, Mechanical Engineering – University of Washington
MS, Mechanical Engineering – University of Washington
BS, Mechanical Engineering – North Carolina State University
Michael is interested in improving models of neuromuscular control for individuals with cerebral palsy to more accurately guide the design of subject-specific ankle-foot orthoses
Trail running, Cycling, Backpacking