- Biomechatronics
Emily is a PhD Candidate in the Department Mechanical Engineering at MIT. She graduated from Harvard in 2015 with a BS in Biomedical Engineering, and received her MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in 2019. As an undergraduate, she was a member of the Harvard Biodesign Lab, working on the design of lower extremity exoskeletons and soft robotics for rehab applications. Before coming to MIT she spent several years as a mechatronics engineer at Ekso Bionics, focusing on the mechanical design and human machine interface of exoskeletons for rehabilitation, human augmentation, and load carriage. In the Biomechatronics Group, she specializes is mechanical and mechatronic design of novel robotic prostheses for users with lower extremity amputation. Emily's Master's research was on the design of a 2-degree-of-freedom neurally controlled ankle prosthesis for rock climbing. Her current PhD research is on the design of a novel variable stiffness ankle prosthesis. She is a named inventor on two issued and one pending US Patents, first author of 3 peer reviewed publications, and coauthor on 3 others. Emily was awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, and her work on the design of a 2-DOF ankle-foot prosthesis is featured in the NOVA documentary 'Augmented', a permanent exhibit in the Boston Museum of Science, and in a TED Talk by Hugh Herr.