Congratulations to Nathan Wallace, who took home the grand prize at the Bench To Beside competition!
Congrats also to Michael Adkins, Monika Buczak, and Nate Toth for winning the “Best in Engineering” Award. They won $5,000 for their work on the Electronic Grip Gauge. Michael and Monika were student ambassadors for the University of Utah ECE and BME departments, respectively.
Dr. Jacob George and his Utah Neurorobotics Lab was recently awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. Thank you to all the fabulous undergraduate researchers in our group whose collective achievements made this award possible. We’ve had 42 undergrad fellows in the lab, who have collectively achieved 31 co-authored abstracts, 21 first-author abstracts, 18 co-authored manuscripts, 5 first-author manuscripts, and 57 competitive research fellowships, totaling $385,299.
A special thanks also to all of the graduate student mentors, who provide the critical day-to-day mentorship and training for our undergrads; this award really wouldn’t be possible without them. It’s great to see our lab working together to create a pipeline from K-12 outreach, to high school interns, undergraduate researchers, and graduate students. Thank you all for your many contributions to our research and team.
Abby Citterman, a member of the NeuroRobotics Lab since 2020, a recent graduate of Biomedical Engineering at the U, and a graduate student at Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center, attended the 50th Academy Annual Meeting & Scientific Symposium last week with the American Academy of Orthotists & Prosthetists. There, she was awarded the Women in O&P Research Award, sponsored by Össur, along with a $1,500 honorarium, for her research titled Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation at the Wrist as a Method to Restore Sensory Feedback for Individuals with Partial Hand Amputation. Abby was also awarded first place in the poster competition for her capstone research project at Northwestern University, titled Do Clinical Assessments of Upper-Limb Prosthesis Users Sufficiently Capture All Dimensions of Anatomical Hand Function?
Congratulations Abby for these prestigious awards!
Abby Citterman, a dedicated member of the NeuroRobotics Lab since 2020, a recent graduate of biomedical engineering at the U, and a graduate student at Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center, has been awarded the prestigious ABC O&P Scholarship, a $10,000 scholarship granted by the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics (ABC) and the Orthotics & Prosthetics Foundation for Education and Research (OPERF).
The ABC O&P Scholarship is awarded annually to exemplary students who demonstrate outstanding academic achievements, leadership potential, and a commitment to advancing the field of orthotics and prosthetics. This esteemed scholarship aims to support the education and professional development of promising individuals in O&P.
Abby has embodied these characteristics and more through her work in the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab, leading numerous projects, mentoring several new undergraduate and high school students, and receiving recognition for her research at national and international conferences. As we look towards the future, we are confident that Abby’s contributions will continue to shape the field and inspire others in the pursuit of groundbreaking advancements in healthcare technology. Congratulations, Abby, on this well-deserved recognition, and may your journey be filled with continued success and impact!
For more information about the 2024 ABC O&P Scholarship, please visit www.oandpfoundation.org.
Congrats to Abby Citterman for being honored with the best prosthetic abstract at the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association National Assembly! Her poster is titled Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation at the Wrist as a Method to Restore Sensory Feedback for Individuals with Partial Hand Amputation. Sensory feedback is critical for dexterous hand function, but current methods are cumbersome, inhibiting the natural use of the residual hand or prosthesis. TENS at the wrist may constitute a functional solution for evoking distally referred sensations on the phantom digits and restoring intuitive, non-restrictive sensory feedback for individuals with partial hand amputation.
The Edwin and Kathryn Arbogast Award and the Otto and Lucille Becker Award were founded in 2012, made possible by a special endowment by Becker Orthopedic and WillowWood. These awards honor two meritorious scientific papers submitted for presentation as a poster at the AOPA National Assembly, to encourage students and residents to display outstanding posters.
The Edwin and Kathryn Arbogast Award is awarded annually for the best prosthetic abstract submitted by a qualifying student or resident. The main author of each presentation must be a student (baccalaureate or master level), or a resident at a qualified patient care facility. This prestigious honor also comes with $500 cash, free travel and lodging, and complimentary registration for the 2023 American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association National Assembly in Indianapolis, Indiana. Congratulations to Abby on this award!
Congratulations to Monika Buczak and Connor Olsen for their recent awards at the Myoelectric Controls Symposium (MEC) held in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The conference occurs every three years, and part of the conference includes the Student Podium Presentation Competition. This year, our lab walked away with both first and second place! Monika Buczak was awarded 2nd place for her presentation, Disentangling Sensory and Motor Deficits of Fine Hand Function Using An Electronic Grip Gauge (EGG) to Simulate Transferring Fragile Objects. Connor Olsen was awarded 1st place for his presentation, An Inexpensive and Adaptable Prosthetic Wrist Improves Dexterity and Reduces Compensatory Movements.
Our lab was well represented at MEC22, and we are immensely proud of all the presentations given. Find the conference proceedings here.
