Advancing Health Care
Our faculty apply mechanical engineering approaches to improve diagnosis and treatment for a variety of medical conditions, through improving medical imaging; computational modeling and simulation of medical conditions, surgeries, and other interventions; characterizing healthy and diseased tissues; and developing medical and assistive devices to improve therapies, mobility, and quality of life.
Matthew Bryant
Dr. Bryant researches novel solutions and new devices that contribute to emerging technologies within several areas, including fluid structure-interactions along with robot actuation and mobility. His group is developing bio-inspired fluidic artificial muscles for wearable robotics and prostheses.
Gregory Buckner
Dr. Buckner’s research focuses on electromechanical and control systems. He works to develop minimally-invasive surgical technologies for improved patient outcomes.
Tiegang
Fang
Dr. Fang researches thermal fluid science with a focus on multiphase fluid flow. His research in droplet interaction with different substrates can be applied to both forensic science and disease prevention.
Landon Grace
Dr. Grace’s healthcare research focuses on the application of mechanical and aerospace engineering principles to the field of ophthalmology, including, for example, the study of the structural changes in the eye associated with glaucoma and the application of machine learning techniques to predict disease onset and progression.
Jingjie
Hu
Dr. Hu’s research focuses on mechanics and materials. She investigates the mechanics of biomedical structures for direct health and medical applications, such as cancer detection and vascular embolization.
Hsiao-Ying Shadow Huang
Dr. Huang studies mechanics of materials and computational mechanics. Her research provides fundamental knowledge for developing novel engineering techniques which have applications in multiple disciplines such as in health care practices.
Xiaoning Jiang
Dr. Jiang researches biomedical and biological systems. He investigates micro/nano-engineering of smart materials and their integration in advanced electromechanical devices with the goal of improving the health of biological and structural systems.
Arun Kumar Kota
Dr. Kota combines his expertise in surface and interfacial science with fundamental principles of biomedical engineering to develop novel coatings for antibiofouling and antithrombotic applications, as well as microrobots that can manipulate biofluids.
Andre
Mazzoleni
Dr. Mazzoleni researches dynamics and computational mechanics with multiple applications in several disciplines. In the field of advancing health care, his research involves using finite element analysis to study the biomechanics of the human spine in order to assist in the development of medical devices used to correct scoliosis and the problems associated with degenerative disk disease.
Marie
Muller
Dr. Muller researches biomedical and biological systems, specifically that of biomedical ultrasound. She develops new methods for early, low cost and widely available diagnostic and screening of diseases such as lung diseases, cancer and osteoporosis.
Afsaneh
Rabiei
Dr. Rabiei studies advanced materials, manufacturing and solid mechanics. Her research involves developing novel materials that can perform better under a variety of conditions, including those used in a health care setting such as with implantable devices.
Katherine Saul
Dr. Saul’s research focuses on biomechanics and rehabilitation engineering. She explores how musculoskeletal injury and impairment occur and predicts how tissue development and growth response to mechanical loading with the goal of helping clinicians design improved surgeries and therapies to restore function.
Hao
Su
Dr. Su researches design and control along with wearable and surgical robots. His research has multiple applications in the field of health care, including MRI-compatible robots for dexterous navigation and targeting for early cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Henry
Ware
Dr. Ware researches advanced manufacturing and materials. He is specifically interested in additive manufacturing, which allows for the creation of devices that could be impossible or very expensive to create, such as patient-specific devices in biomedicine.
Yong
Zhu
Dr. Zhu researches structural mechanics, materials and manufacturing; nanoscale science and engineering along with biomedical and biological systems. One application of his research is nanomaterial-enabled, stretchable and wearable electronics that can monitor the health and wellbeing of humans as well as plants.