NINA ROBSON RECEIVES NSF EARLY CAREER AWARD

Nina Robson, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, was recently awarded the National Science Foundation’s $500,000 Early CAREER award for her work in developing novel robotics technologies to assist people with neurological disorders, such as strokes and spinal cord injuries. She also received a second grant for $50,000 from the NSF for her I-Corps: The Augmented Reality Wearable Device (ARWED) for Upper-Limb Rehabilitation project. The impact/commercial potential of the project will train post-stroke patients, allowing them, for example, to perceive an impaired arm as healthy. “Preliminary training protocols, incorporated within the ARWED, make the system a reliable solution that is expected to be broadly utilized by medical professionals working in rehabilitation, sports therapy, and convalescence,” Robson explains. “Although the ARWED has been developed mainly for the physical training of post-stroke patients, the project's explorations are expected to provide effective tools for the physical rehabilitation of patients with limb limitations at any scale — ranging from individuals suffering partial loss of motor ability to those with severe limitations in mobility due to strokes, birth defects or accidents.”