Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
BIOMECHANICS & NEURAL ENGINEERING
Directors: Terence McIff, Ph.D.
Biomechanics is the scientific discipline that studies biological systems, such as the human body, using the methods of Mechanical Engineering. The purpose is to create new and innovative approaches, advance fundamental concepts, and apply knowledge to the improvement of the mechanics of biological systems.
While biomechanics represents a broad area of research, from the design of dental implants to the understanding of fluid dynamics in the vascular system, the biomechanics research focus at KU is on the human musculoskeletal system.
Our mission is to provide a quality graduate research and educational experience with emphasis on understanding and analyzing the mechanics of the human body through experimental measurement, mathematical modeling and computer simulations. This effort includes studies of the mechanics of the whole-body as a system, a group of body parts as a sub-system, and an individual body part as a component.
While this program is firmly grounded on the techniques in mechanical engineering, the nature of the research is multidisciplinary. Collaborative research is being fostered among researchers in engineering, mathematics, the sciences and the KU Medical Center.
Track Faculty
Titles
-Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, School of
Engineering
-Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Associated Tracks
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
Research Interests
-Biomedical Robots
-Applied Artificial Intelligence
Titles
-Associate Professor, Speech-Language-Hearing: Sciences & Disorders
-Courtesy Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Associated Tracks
-Computational Bioengineering
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
Research Interests
- Adaptive signal processing for neuroscience
- Neuroengineering
- Machine learning
- Human-computer interaction
- Brain-computer interface
- Speech and communication neuroscience
Titles
-Professor, Hearing and Speech
Associated Tracks
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
Research Interests
-Acoustic and Electric Measures of the Pathophysiology underlying Hearing Impairment
Associated Tracks
-Bioimaging
-Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
Research Interests
-Tissue Mechanics
-Computational Joint Mechanics
Associated Tracks
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
Research Interests
-Structural Biomaterials
-Spine Biomechanics
-Design and Testing of Medical Devices
Titles
-Assistant Professor, Speech-Language-Hearing: Science & Disorders
Associated Tracks
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
Research Interests
-signal processing, binaural hearing mechanisms and psychoacoustics; development of speech coding strategies and their application to cochlear implants
Titles
-Associate Professor, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science
Associated Tracks
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
Research Interests
-Human Sensorimotor Control and Disorders
-Stroke Rehabilitation
-Sports Injury Rehabilitation
Titles
-Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Associated Tracks
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
Research Interests
-Effects of Age and Disorders on the Biomechanics of Balance, Gait, and Motor Control
Titles
-Associate Department Chair, Mechanical Engineering
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Associated Tracks
-Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
Research Interests
-Applications of Biomechanics and Machine Design
-Biomechanics Testing Machines and Experimental Designs
-Kinematic Joint Studies
-Wear of Artificial Components
-Testing and Evaluation of Prosthetic Devices
- Track Director, Biomechanics & Neural Eng.
- Director, Orthopedic Biomech. and Bioengineering Labs
Associated Tracks
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
Research Interests
-Orthopedic Biomechanics
Titles
-Professor, Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering
Associated Tracks
-Bioimaging
-Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
Research Interests
-Nano-micro-macro mechanics of calcified and soft tissues
-Constitutive modeling and computational methods
-Scanning acoustic microscopy and ultrasonic testing
Titles
-Professor & Vice Chair of Research, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
-Director, Landon Center on Aging
Associated Tracks
-Bioimaging
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
Research Interests
-Neural Mechanisms of Recovery after Brain Injury
-implantable Devices for Brain Plasticity
Titles
-Assistant Professor, Director of Basic Research
Associated Tracks
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Computational Bioengineering
-Bioimaging
Research Interests
-Neural encoding of hand and finger movements
-Brain-machine interfaces
-Data science/machine learning for neurotechnologies
Titles
-Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science
Associated Tracks
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
Research Interests
-Understanding biochemical and neural mechanisms contributing to chronic pain syndromes and the efficacy of various physical therapy interventions in modulating pain
- Track Director, Computational Bioengineering
- Associate Professor, Electrical Eng. and Computer Sci.
Associated Tracks
-Bioimaging
-Computational Bioengineering
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
Research Interests
-Computational Medicine
-Computational Surgery
-Computational Anatomy
-Computational Biomechanics
-Patient-Specific Model and Mesh Generation
-Image Processing
- Track Co-Director, Biomedical Product Design & Dev.
- Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Associated Tracks
-Biomechanics & Neural Engineering
-Biomedical Product Design & Development
-Computational Bioengineering
Research Interests
-Lumbar Spine Coordination and Control
-Joint Dynamics and Stability