Summer Reflections and Gratitude

Today we held a lab dinner to celebrate recent accomplishments and share some of our highlights from the summer:

Shaila was thankful for all the fun social events - especially the smores night - and the delicious (and often free) food in our building. Dillon highlighted how much he enjoyed spending the summer in Utah and making new friends in the lab. Matt joked about staying up late to run a 3D-print with Dillon, which ultimately failed minutes after they left! Caleb's highlight of the summer was his first-author manuscript getting accepted (woohoo!) and Abby Citterman shared her excitement to be writing her first manuscript. Abby Harrison reflected on how much fun she had learning to soldier in the lab this summer and Wyatt's highlight was when he finally finished a new prototype after almost 80 hours of construction! And all that hard work isn't without reward; as Kennedy pointed out, the best part of the summer for her was finding out the lab has a massage chair! Adrian reflected on how fun it's been to watch the lab grow and to be apart of that growth. And to that, Brandon joked about his first trip to the lab when he waited on the elevator and walked through the building alongside a stranger, only to realize later that they shared the same destination and that stranger was his new labmate Adrian!

As for me, I'm grateful to have such an amazing group of people to work with every day and, like Adrian said, it's been an amazing to watch our lab grow. It's been a fun and productive summer - and we're all excited to keep the momentum going together!

Utah Asia Campus Visit

Today we had five students from the University of Utah Asia Campus (UAC) visit the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab. Students at UAC complete pre-major and early-major coursework in Incheon, Korea and then finish their Electrical & Computer Engineering in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although they still have a few years before they will be full-time in Utah, the UAC students were able to visit Utah the past few weeks to learn more about their future opportunities in Utah. You can learn more about their exciting trip here.

NeuroRobotics Summer Games Tournament Continues with Roof-Top Mini Golf!

Today we continued the the NeuroRobotics Lab summer games tournament with a 4-hole game of mini golf.  The roof-top patio of the Craig H. Neilsen Hospital has lots of patio furniture, yard games (including a putting green!) and amazing views of the Wasatch Mountains. Jake George took first place in the mini golf tournament, followed closely by Caleb Thomson (second), Kennedy Powell (third) and Wyatt Fullmer (fourth).

This brings the current standings for the summer games tournament to:

1. Dillon Crytser (8 points)
2. Jake George (7 points)
3. Wyatt Fullmer (4 points)
4. Ruby Law (3 points)
4. Caleb Thomson (3 points)
4. Matt Ludlow (3 points)
5. Kennedy Powell (2 points)

NeuroRobotics Summer Games Tournament Continues; Dillon Crytser Leads!

Today we continued the the NeuroRobotics Lab summer games tournament with a round-robin game of cornhole.  Undergraduate Dillon Crytser took first place, taking home the corn-hole trophy and 4 points in the games tournament!

The current standings for the summer games tournament are:

1. Dillon Crytser (8 points)
2. Wyatt Fullmer (3 points)
2. Ruby Law (3 points)
2. Jake George (3 points)
2. Matt Ludlow (3 points)

Two Papers Accepted at IEEE EMBC

Two papers from the NeuroRobotics Lab were accepted at the 2021 43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society! The first paper, authored by graduate student Caleb Thomson, is titled "A Recurrent Neural Network Provides Stable Across-Day Prosthetic Control for a Human Amputee with Implanted Intramuscular Electromyographic Recording Leads." The second paper, authored by graduate students Taylor Hansen and Marshall Trout, is titled "A Bionic Hand for Semi-Autonomous Fragile Object Manipulation via Proximity and Pressure Sensors." The papers will be presented virtually at the annual conference between October 31 – November 4, 2021.

NeuroRobotics Summer Games Tournament Begins; Dillon Crytser Takes First Place!

The Craig H. Neilsen hospital is a great place to work. In addition to all the amazing equipment and people in the building, there are also several fun games around. We have ping-pong, ladder toss, cornhole, and even mini-golf! The NeuroRobotics social committee hosting a games tournament where lab members will compete across various games throughout the summer to see who will be crowned the ultimate winner!

Today we kicked off the summer games tournament with a double-elimination ping-pong tournament.  Undergraduate Dillon Crytser took first place, taking home the ping-pong trophy and 4 points in the games tournament!

The current standings for the summer games tournament are:

  1. Dillon Crytser (4 points)
  2. Ruby Law (3 points)
  3. Jake George (2 points)
  4. Matt Ludlow (1 point)

NeuroRobotics Undergraduate Rebecca Urban Selected as Engineering Ambassador!

Congratulations to Rebecca Urban for being admitted to the highly prestigious Engineering Ambassadors Program at the University of Utah. Engineering Ambassadors are the student representatives of the College of Engineering. They are motivated students who represent the College of Engineering at recruitment, outreach, alumni, and development events. This is a highly selective program as ambassadors work directly with the Dean’s Office in the College of Engineering. Rebecca is a well-rounded individual with a love for the University of Utah and the College of Engineering! She has strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work independently and in a team environment. Congratulations Rebecca!

Center for Neural Interfaces Professors Dr. George and Dr. Clark Featured in Newsweek

The Center for Neural Interfaces research with the LUKE Arm was recently featured in an article on Newsweek and Zenger News. Dr. Clark (Neuroplasticity Lab) and Dr. George (NeuroRobotics Lab) have worked together to translate pioneering neural-interface research from open-loop virtual reality environments into a physical and closed-loop manifestation resembling Luke Skywalker's bionic arm. Most notably their team received FDA approval to lead a take-home trial in which participants take the LUKE Arm home with them.