People

Dr. Dean Chen is a postdoctoral researcher in the Anatomical Engineering Group at UCLA. He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, specializing in the mechanics of soft composites and mechanical metamaterials, attaining expertise and experience in advanced computational mechanics of materials. Prior to his doctorate, his Master's program at DLUT delved into the design of non-linear contact phenomena within complex mechanical assemblies, particularly focusing on the high-performance assembly processes of aerospace engines. At present, working alongside Dr. Clites, Dr. Chen is working on advancing the development of interference-based overload protection for orthopaedic implants, making the implant system robust enough to endure the complex dynamic loads of human motion.

Dr. Cameron Taylor is a postdoctoral scholar in the Anatomical Engineering Group. He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from BYU in 2014 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in media arts and sciences from MIT in 2016 and 2020. He served as the project lead for magnetomicrometry at the K. Lisa Yang Center for bionics at MIT from 2017-2023. His research interests include medical device development, electromagnetics, neural interfacing, and muscle physiology. His long-term goal is to improve clinical care by transforming how we understand and interact with the neuromusculoskeletal system. Cameron is working with Dr. Clites on an implanted knee endoprosthesis, with the goal of reducing the need for knee replacement revision surgeries.

Armin is a Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate in the Anatomical Engineering Group and Flexible Research Group at UCLA. He earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA in 2019. During his undergraduate, Armin worked on finite element models for flash-boiling cooling mechanisms for the Nano Transport Research Group at UCLA. In 2020, he began his PhD research under Dr. Jonathan Hopkins of the Flexible Research Group. He is working on a compliant screw design with an internal microarchitecture that gives the screw auxetic properties meant to resist screw loosening in aerospace and medical applications. In 2022, he joined Dr. Tyler Clites of the Anatomical Engineering Group to collaborate on an implanted ankle-foot prosthesis. His contributions have included finite element analysis on the prosthesis as well as experimental test design. In the future, Armin plans to extend his work in the Anatomical Engineering Group to an implanted knee prosthesis.

Ophelie is a Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate and National Science Foundation fellow in the Anatomical Engineering Group. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 2018 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering with a Biomedical Specialization, and in 2020 with a MS in Mechanical Engineering. During her previous graduate work, Ophelie conducted research on an EMG driven, time independent PID controller for lower limb prosthetic and exoskeleton applications. Now, her research under the leadership of Dr. Tyler Clites is focused on investigating potential solutions to prevent reinjury of the anterior cruciate ligament after reconstruction surgeries.

Brandon is a Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate in the Anatomical Engineering Group. He earned bachelor’s degrees in both Computer Engineering and Mathematics from the University of Florida in 2017 and a master’s degree in Robotics from the University of Michigan in 2019. Before attending UCLA, Brandon worked as a robotics engineer at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola, FL. He served as the software and controls lead on a team that developed a powered exoskeleton that allows people with lower-limb paralysis to transfer out of their wheelchair, stand up, and walk around. Brandon is working with Dr. Clites on an implanted ankle-foot prosthesis that provides an alternative solution to pathologies that are typically treated with arthrodesis or amputation.

Will is a Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate in the Anatomical Engineering Group. He attended Georgia Tech for his undergraduate studies, earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering with a Minor in Physiology. While at Georgia Tech, Will conducted research into machine learning techniques for detecting locomotion modes and estimating terrain conditions using wearable sensor data during human walking. In the Anatomical Engineering Group, his current work focuses on the magnetic suspension of prosthetic limbs for a better biological-mechanical interface.

Leonardo is a Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate in the Anatomical Engineering Group. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Polytechnic University of Turin (Politecnico di Torino) in 2018 and a master's degree in Mechatronic Engineering with a double major in Mechanical and Electronic Engineering and a minor in Automotive Engineering from the same institution in 2020. Leonardo worked for Magneti Marelli as a corporate quality engineer and for Vibram Group as a manufacturing operation engineer. Since 2020, he has collaborated with the UCLA Bionics Lab on the mechanical design and manufacturing of a static, full-body exoskeleton for VR haptics. Leonardo is collaborating with Dr. Clites in the Anatomical Engineering Group to develop a new generation implantable total wrist replacement as a remedy for pathologies currently treated with arthrodesis.

Sachi is a Bioengineering PhD candidate in the Anatomical Engineering Group. She attended the University of Washington- Seattle for her undergraduate studies, earning a BS in Biology. As an undergrad, Sachi conducted research exploring concussion prevention in athletes while working for the women’s basketball team. Before attending UCLA, Sachi worked as a clinical research coordinator in Stanford’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery studying novel strategies to delay the early onset of post traumatic osteoarthritis following acute primary ACL tears. In the Anatomical Engineering Group, her work focuses on a prosthetic device that can help individuals with thumb amputations regain loss of function and sensation.

Jinyoung is a Mechanical Engineering PhD student in the Anatomical Engineering Group. He graduated from Yonsei University in 2022 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. During his undergraduate studies, he conducted research on acoustic tweezers to develop techniques to rotate and position cylindrical nanoparticles. In the Anatomical Engineering Group, he is currently working on developing an engineering model for the orbicularis oculi muscle. His research will contribute to the development of implantable electronic stimulation devices for people with facial paralysis.

Michael is a Mechanical Engineering PhD student and National Science Foundation fellow in the Anatomical Engineering Group. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2020. Before starting at UCLA, Michael spent two years working as a Research Coordinator in the Movement & Applied Imaging Lab at Boston University studying knee osteoarthritis gait biomechanics. In the Anatomical Engineering Group, his research focuses on restoring motor function in individuals with hand paralysis.

Rasheedat Ekiyoyo is a Mechanical Engineering PhD student and Eugene V. Cota-Robles fellow in the Anatomical Engineering Group. In May 2023, she graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. While at Penn State, Rasheedat's undergraduate research focused on using markerless pose estimation to develop a comparative animal injury model that would be used to determine the strategic placement of implantable muscle actuators. Her current research areas of interest include maternal health disparities in West Africa and reconstructive surgical solutions to improve health outcomes amongst women.

Kai is a Mechanical Engineering PhD student in the Anatomical Engineering Group. He earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA, where he developed manufacturing techniques for a novel implanted ankle-foot prosthesis. Prior to graduate studies, Kai was a Mechanical Manufacturing Engineer on Google X's Everyday Robots Project where he solved problems and developed scaled manufacturing for hundreds of highly complex, early-prototype, human-sized robots. These robots are currently used in internal AI and ML research projects across Google X and Google DeepMind. He also worked at Cummins as a Validation Engineer for natural gas engines and improved the cleanest internal combustion engines in the world. Hailing from Singapore, he takes his coffee kopi-c-siewdai. Kai's current work with Dr. Tyler Clites focuses on magnetic suspension of prosthetic limbs for a better biological-mechanical interface.

Alyssa is a Mechanical Engineering PhD student and National Science Foundation fellow in the Anatomical Engineering Group. She graduated from UCLA with her BS in Mechanical Engineering. As an undergrad, Alyssa worked in the Anatomical Engineering Group and designed instrumentation to aid surgeons in implanting the novel endoprosthesis being developed in the lab. Additionally, she worked on a modular tunable stiffness orthotic attachment for the ankle endoprostheses. As a graduate student, Alyssa’s project will focus on using mechanical design to emulate the mechanical properties of biological structures.

Samantha Herman is a Mechanical Engineering PhD student and National Science Foundation fellow in the Anatomical Engineering Group. They graduated from UC Santa Barbara in December of 2023 with a BS in Physics. While at UCSB, their bachelor's honors thesis involved the design and fabrication of a transparent microelectrode array to enable simultaneous optical observation and voltage stimulation of organoids. In addition to their thesis work, Samantha wrote a python module to numerically simulate neuronal activity with respect to a commercial microelectrode array and worked to integrate a machine learning approach to photon energy estimation into the Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detector data analysis pipeline. As a graduate student, their research interests include improving upon mathematical models of muscle force generation, advancing data analysis techniques for biomechanics research, and developing tools to robustly measure electromyography signals and muscle force generation.