Hugh Herr

Associate Professor within MIT’s Program of Media Arts and Sciences, and The Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Professor Hugh Herr is the founder and director of the Biomechatronics Resesarch Group at the MIT Media Laboratory. His primary research objective is to apply principles of biomechanics and neural control to guide the designs of wearable robotic systems for human rehabilitation and physical augmentation. In the area of human augmentation, Professor Herr has employed cross bridge models of skeletal muscle to the design and optimization of a new class of human-powered mechanisms that amplify endurance for cyclic anaerobic activities. He has also built elastic shoes that increase metabolic economy for running, and leg exoskeletons for walking load-carrying augmentation. In the area of assistive technology, Professor Herr’s group has developed powered orthotic and prosthetic mechanisms for use as assistive interventions in the treatment of leg disabilities caused by amputation, stroke, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis.