Title: Human–Robot Empowerment: Neuromusculoskeletal Sensing & Modeling for Improved Assistive & Rehabilitative Robotics

Bio: Laura Hallock is the Principal Investigator of the Human–Robot Empowerment Lab (HRELab) at the University of Utah, where she works to build more effective assistive and rehabilitative robots. Her current projects focus on improving independence after neurological injury by making rehabilitation more engaging and assistive devices easier to control. In particular, her research leverages multiple sensing modalities (including ultrasound, surface electromyography, and motion capture) to better evaluate human capability and intent, enabling safer, more intuitive, and more personalized physical human–robot interactions.

Title: Who is this guy and why is he talking so much?

Bio: A once mediocre PhD student, Dr. Elijah Kuska just completed his first year as an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. At Mines he teaches the gamut of students – from sophomores to graduate students – about the utility of computational tools for engineering and biomechanics. Unsurprisingly, his past research was primarily focused on modeling and simulation of human walking and utilizing computational tools to inform neurorehabilitation. His students would likely say he’s majoring in Bad Jokes, but with his newer and now primary role and passion for teaching he’s mostly focused on course development, improving accessibility classrooms, and connecting with and inspiring students. He’s not that out of touch though: he does side-hustle some research with a local hospital, and he is also on a super-duper push to teach and inspire students to study abroad.

Title: Mobile sensing to improve human mobility at scale

Bio: Dr. Uhlrich directs the Movement Bioengineering Lab at the University of Utah, where he is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and, by courtesy, Orthopaedic Surgery. His research aims to improve human mobility across the lifespan using scalable digital health technology. His group leverages computational biomechanics, machine learning, mobile sensing, and imaging with applications in osteoarthritis, neuromuscular diseases, and ageing. His group’s two major research directions are 1) the development and application of open-source software to analyze human movement at scale using smartphone video, and 2) the study of the pathological mechanics of osteoarthritis and design of interventions to slow joint degeneration. The open-source video-based biomechanics software developed by Dr. Uhlrich’s lab, called OpenCap, is used by over 7,000 researchers worldwide. Prior to joining the University of Utah, Scott received his MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. After a postdoctoral fellowship in Bioengineering at Stanford, he became the Director of Research of the Stanford Human Performance Laboratory. Prof. Uhlrich holds numerous patents and has founded a company to make his video-based biomechanics software available to clinicians.