Hugh Herr  Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT Media Lab; Co-Director, MIT Center for Extreme Bionics; Founder of BionX

  

Wartenweiler Lecture

 

Wednesday, July 31st, 1700 hrs

Hugh Herr is creating bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. Time Magazine coined Dr. Herr the 'Leader of the Bionic Age' because of his revolutionary work in the emerging field of Biomechatronics – technology that marries human physiology with electromechanics. A double amputee himself, he is responsible for breakthrough advances in bionic limbs that provide greater mobility and new hope to those with physical disabilities. He is currently Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, and co-director of the MIT Center for Extreme Bionics. Herr is the author and co-author of over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts and patents, chronicling the science and technology behind his many innovations. These innovations include Computer-Controlled Artificial Knees, Active Leg Exoskeletons, and Powered Ankle-Foot Protheses. A computer-controlled knee prosthesis called the Rheo, which is outfitted with a microprocessor that continually senses the joint's position and the loads applied to the limb, was named to the list of Top Ten Inventions in the health category by TIME magazine in 2004. A powered ankle-foot prosthesis called EmPower, which emulates the action of a biological leg and, for the first time, provides amputees with a natural gait, was named to the same

TIME top-ten list in 2007. He is the Founder of BionX Inc., a company that commercializes the EmPower Ankle-Foot Prosthesis, first in a series of products that will emulate physiological function through electromechanical replacement. Today the EmPower Ankle-Foot Prosthesis has been clinically shown to be the first leg prosthesis in history to reach human normalization, allowing amputees to walk with normal levels of speed and metabolism as if their legs were biological once again. Herr has received many accolades for his groundbreaking innovations, including the 13th Annual Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment; The Prince Salman Award for Disability Research; The Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award in Technology, the 14th Innovator of the Year Award, and the 41st Inventor of the Year Award, and the 2016 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research. Hugh's story has been told in a National Geographic film, Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr; and episodes and articles featured in CNN, The Economist, Discover and Nature

  

Heike Vallery Professor, Biomechanical Engineering, Technical University Delft

  

Keynote Speaker

 

Thursday, August 1st, 1400 hrs

Heike Vallery received her Dipl.-Ing. degree in Mechanical Engineering (with honors) from RWTH Aachen University in 2004. Since then, she has been working on robot-assisted rehabilitation and prosthetic legs, in close collaboration with clinical partners and experts in neuroscience and biomechanics. She received her Dr.-Ing. from the Technische Universität München in 2009. From 2008 to 2011, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the SMS Lab at ETH Zürich. At that time, she and her collaborators started realizing diverse transparent robotic interfaces for 3D overground gait training, which are now enabling ground-breaking research on recovery after spinal cord injury. From 2011 to 2012, she worked at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi as an assistant professor, and she joined TU Delft in 2012 in that same function. Today, as a full professor at TU Delft, she works on minimalistic and unconventional concepts to support human gait and balance. Heike Vallery has published more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, filed 11 patent applications, and received diverse fellowships and awards, such as the 1st prize of the euRobotics Technology Transfer Award 2014 and a Vidi fellowship in 2016 from the Netherlands organisation for Scientific Research.

  

Irene S. Davis Director of the Spaulding National Running Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School

  

ASB Borelli Award

 

Friday, August 2nd, 1400 hrs

Dr. Irene Davis is the founding Director of the Spaulding National Running Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Davis received her Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts, and in Physical Therapy from the University of Florida. She earned her Masters degree in Biomechanics from the University of Virginia, and her PhD in Biomechanics from Pennsylvania State University. She is a Professor Emeritus in Physical Therapy at the University of Delaware where she served on the faculty for over 20 years. Her research is focused on the relationship between lower extremity structure, mechanics and injury. Her research also extends to the development of interventions to alter faulty mechanics through gait retraining. She has been studying the use of wearable sensors in both the evaluation and treatment of injured runners. Her interests also include the effect of minimal footwear on mechanics and injury. Dr. Davis has received funding from the Department of Defense, and National Institutes of Health to support her research. She has given over 350 lectures both nationally and internationally and authored 140 publications on the topic of lower extremity mechanics during walking and running gait. She was recently named one of the 50 Most Influential People in Running. She is a Fellow and Past President of the American Society of Biomechanics. She is also a Fellow, Vice President and current Presidential nominee of the American College of Sports Medicine and a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association.

  

Ralph Müller  Professor at the Institute for Biomechanics, ETH Zürich

  

ISB Muybridge Lecture

 

Saturday, August 3rd, 1400 hrs

Dr. Müller is currently a Professor of Biomechanics at the Department of Health Sciences and Technology and heads the Laboratory for Bone Biomechanics at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. He studied electrical engineering at ETH Zürich, where he also received his doctoral degree. Subsequently, he was involved in the development of a compact desktop micro-tomographic imaging system that since has been commercialized and is now marketed worldwide. The research he has completed and is currently pursuing employs state-of-the-art biomechanical testing and simulation techniques as well as novel bioimaging and visualization strategies for musculoskeletal tissues. His approaches are now often used for precise phenotypic characterization in mammalian genetics, mechanobiology as well as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. He is an author of over 500 peer-reviewed publications in international scientific journals and conference proceedings. His work has been cited over 30,000 times on Google Scholar with an h-index of 90. In 2015, he was elected to the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW) and the European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering and Science (EAMBES). In 2017, the European Research Council awarded him with a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant. He is a former President of the European Society of Biomechanics and the Swiss Society for Biomedical Engineering and currently serves on the Board of the International Society of Bone Morphometry.

  

Kim Bennell Professor and Director of Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, in Physiotherapy at the School of Health Sciences, University of Melbourne

  

Keynote Speaker

 

Sunday, August 4th, 1400 hrs

Kim Bennell is a Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne. She leads the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine and the National Health and Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence in Translational Research in Musculoskeletal Pain. She is also a fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. Her research focuses on non-drug, non-surgical management of hip and knee osteoarthritis and she has investigated many biomechanical interventions such as wedge shoe insoles, footwear, gait aids and braces. Kim has over 350 peer-reviewed publications including clinical trials published in JAMA, Ann Int Med and BMJ. She has supervised more than 25 PhD students to completion and was a co-recipient of the 2018 Australian Council of Graduate Research Award for Excellence in Research Supervision. Kim has been on the Board of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International since 2008.

  

Joe Hamill  Professor Emeritus, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst

  

President's Lecture

 

Sunday, August 4th, 1600 hrs

Joseph Hamill has a BA (York University, Toronto), a BS (Concordia University, Montreal), and an MS and PhD in Biomechanics (University of Oregon). He is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is an Adjunct Professor at several universities around the world. Hamill has authored over 450 research papers, research proceedings and abstracts, 22 book chapters and 11 books. He has also presented numerous papers at both national and international conferences and has been a keynote or invited speaker at universities in the United States and other countries. He is a Fellow of the Research Consortium, ASB, ACSM, ISBS, CSB and the NAK. He has received awards from ASB, the AAHPERD Biomechanics Academy and the ACSM Biomechanics Interest Group. Hamill's current research interests are focused on lower extremity biomechanics during normal and pathological locomotion. His current projects include studies on coordination variability in cumulative micro-trauma injuries and the interaction of biomechanical and anatomical factors in overuse injuries. He has mentored over 50 PhD and MS students, 20 Honor's students and 10 post docs. Professionally, he has served on the Executive Boards of the NEACSM, the Footwear Biomechanics Group, ISB, CSB, ISBS and the National Academy of Kinesiology. He served as the Chair of the Footwear Biomechanics Group and as President of ISBS. Currently he serves as President of the International Society of Biomechanics.

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