MAE Distinguished Seminar Series - Speaker: Conor Walsh

Seminar Speaker: Conor Walsh, Harvard University

Seminar Title: Soft wearable robots for restoring performance after neurological and musculoskeletal injuries

As space is limited, guests are asked to register to attend this seminar by completing the short registration form at https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_esN6eEzU5pyLwVw. This seminar is currently only open to Ohio State students, faculty and staff.

Abstract: 

This talk will give an overview of our work on developing soft wearable robot technologies for augmenting and restoring human performance and how we characterize their performance through biomechanical and physiological studies so as to further the scientific understanding of how humans interact with such machines. This talk will focus on particular applications of where inflatable soft robotics can be used to provide mechanical assistance to restore movement of reduced upper extremity for those with ALS and soft exosuits to improve mobility and lifting. A major focus will be on understanding specific challenges and use cases to drive the creation of wearable technologies that provide non-invasive solutions that have the potential to be rapidly translated to patients and end users.  

Bio: Conor Walsh is the Paul A. Maeder Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the John A. Paulson Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is the is the founder of the Harvard Biodesign Lab, which brings together researchers from the engineering, industrial design, apparel, biomechanics, physical therapy and business communities to develop and translate new disruptive robotic technologies for augmenting and restoring human performance. Example application areas include, enhancing the mobility of healthy individuals, restoring the mobility of patients with gait deficits, assisting those with upper extremity weakness to perform activities of daily living and preventing injuries of workers performing physically strenuous tasks. The soft exosuit technology is now commercially available in clinics for gait retraining through a collaboration with ReWalk Robotics and a lab spin-out, Verve, has launched a back assist product for workers performing physically strenuous tasks in industry. He is dedicated to training the next generation of biomedical engineering innovators and lab alumni have gone on to successful careers in academia, entrepreneurship, and high tech R&D positions in industry. Additionally, he co-founded the Soft Robotics Toolkit that serves as a platform the lab’s extensive STEM outreach activities. He is the winner of multiple awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 Award.