Faculty

• Peter Adamczyk – rehabilitation robotics, lower-limb prosthetics, wearable sensors
• Christian Franck – experimental mechanics, traumatic brain injury, traction force microscopy
• Corinne Henak – mechanical loading, tissue-level mechanics
• Jacob Notbohm – mechanics of soft materials
• Alejandro Roldán-Alzate – cardiovascular and biofluid mechanics
• Josh Roth knee kinematics, computational modeling
• Shiva Rudraraju – multiphysics and multiscale modeling
• Darryl Thelen – multibody dynamics, tissue mechanics
• Melih Eriten – contact mechanics/tribology, mechanics of soft/biological materials

Faculty affiliates

• Kreg Gruben (biomedical engineering)
• Christopher Luzzio (neurology)
• Colleen Witzenburg (biomedical engineering)

Laboratories and Centers

The Biomechatronics, Assistive Devices, Gait Engineering and Rehabilitation Laboratory

• ME Faculty: Peter Adamczyk
• The Biomechatronics, Assistive Devices, Gait Engineering and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin – Madison (UW BADGER Lab) applies scientific and engineering principles to promote quantitative assessment, restored function, and physical recovery after orthopedic or neurological injury.  The lab’s goal is to apply mechanical engineering principles to rehabilitation in order to improve lower limb mobility impairments.  They do this through understanding how locomotion neuromechanics and various gait parameters are affected in impaired individuals.  Then they design lower-limb prostheses, wearable sensors, and rehabilitation robotics to compensate for lost function due to impairment.

Franck Lab

• ME Faculty: Christian Franck
• The Franck Lab is an experimental mechanics laboratory specializing in the development of new experimental techniques at the micro- and nanoscale. Their goal is to provide unprecedented full-field 3D access to real-time imaging and deformation measurements in complex soft matter and cellular systems. 

Panther Program

• ME Faculty: Christian Franck
• The Physics-bAsed Neutralization of Threats to Human tissuEs and oRgans (PANTHER) Program is an interdisciplinary research hub focused on the understanding, detection, and prevention of traumatic brain injuries. Their approach is centered around a synergistic multiscale integration of scientific discovery at the cellular and subcellular level to rapid commercial translation at the human level to provide accurate information and protection solutions for warfighters and citizens.

Henak Lab

• ME Faculty: Corinne Henak
• The central hypothesis of the Henak Lab is that the tissue-scale mechanical environment can be used to understand and predict orthopedic diseases.  To address this hypothesis, the Henak Lab uses a combination of multiscale experimental and computational techniques. Knowledge of the effects of tissue-level mechanics would provide the basis for predicting when and where tissue damage will occur under arbitrary loading conditions, ultimately improving our understanding of orthopedic diseases and improving the efficacy of treatment. 

Notbohm Research Group

• ME Faculty: Jacob Notbohm
• The Notbohm Research Group studies mechanics of soft materials. Current areas of interest are in mechanics of fibrous materials, cell-matrix interactions, and collective cell migration. This work draws on the fields of engineering mechanics, soft matter physics, applied math, and cell biology. Applications of this research are in improving human health by developing new diagnostics and treatments to disease and in engineering materials that sustain large deformations and resist damage.

Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics Laboratory

• ME Faculty: Alejandro Roldán-Alzate
• The UW Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics Laboratory focuses its research on fluid dynamics analysis of physiological and pathological flows using a combination of medical imaging, additive manufacturing, and computational fluid dynamics. The results of the lab are used to develop improved diagnostic and surgical planning techniques through a collaboration with physicians.

Biomechanical Advances in Medicine Lab

• ME Faculty: Josh Roth
• The mission of the Biomedical Advances in Medicine Lab is to enhance personalized treatments of musculoskeletal injuries and disease. This mission is motivated by need to account for the wide patient-to-patient variability that is not always considered in standard treatments. By translating novel engineering advances into the clinic to optimize the treatment of individual patients, they believe that they can improve patient satisfaction and function following treatment. Improved satisfaction and function should in turn allow patients to maintain an active lifestyle, which is critical to reducing the risk of a multitude of age-related diseases. With ties to both the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation and the Department of Mechanical Engineering, this lab is positioned to bridge the engineering and clinical realms to enable the rapid translation of our innovations to clinical partners.

Neuromuscular Biomechanics Laboratory

• ME Faculty: Darryl Thelen
• The UW Neuromuscular Biomechanics Laboratory conducts research on the biomechanics and neuromuscular coordination of human movement, with applications in orthopedics and rehabilitation. Our experimental facilities include capabilities to record three dimensional kinematics, kinetics, and dynamic images during movement. Computer simulations are used to characterize musculotendon dynamics, estimate internal loadings, and test principles guiding movement control. The overall goal of the research is to establish a scientific basis for the clinical treatment and prevention of impairments that limit locomotor performance.