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. Rachel Gehlhar is a mechanical engineering postdoctoral researcher in the Anatomical Engineering Group. She graduated with a PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 2022 where her research focused on developing and implementing the first model-based nonlinear control method for a powered prosthetic leg. Before Caltech, she earned her B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN in 2016. In the Anatomical Engineering Group, her research focuses on examining the effects of ankle stiffness on human gait by developing a passive ankle exoskeleton and conducting a biomechanics study.

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.

Sachi is a Bioengineering PhD student 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jinyoung is a Mechanical Engineering masters thesis 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.

Amin is a Mechanical Engineering masters thesis student in the Anatomical Engineering Group. He completed his undergraduate degree at UCLA in Mechanical Engineering. Amin conducted research into robotics and EXO-skeleton designs, allowing him to gain valuable experience and exposure in design and manufacturing. While completing his masters thesis, his goal is to design sensitized limbs to be utilized in prosthetic devices.