People
Jonathon Schofield
Principal Investigator
Dr. Schofield works to improve user acceptance and promote the seamless integration of humans and assistive medical devices, leveraging techniques in bio-robotic control and feedback, sensory-motor neural interfaces, and cognitive-perceptual neurosciences. The BEAR Lab performs interdisciplinary research at the interface of mechanical and electrical engineering, neurosciences and rehabilitation medicine to address unmet clinical needs and understand how humans engage with intelligent technologies such as robotic prostheses and powered exoskeleton orthoses, among many others.
Contact: jschofield @ucdavis.edu
PostDocs
Suniyya Wariach
Post Doc
Bachelor's in Math and Computer Science
PhD in Neuroscience
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Suniyya studyies the neural basis of motor control and brain network reorganization in children whose brains develop with a missing hand, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
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Contact: swaraich@ucdavis.edu
Graduate Students
PhD Students
Kihun Hong
PhD Candidate
Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering
Masters in Mechanical Engineering
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Kihun works to improve the seamless interaction between humans and
robotic manipulators by using sophisticated sensory feedback. His goal is to develop haptic interfaces for users to intuitively understand the movement of robotic devices.
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Contact: kihong@ucdavis.edu
Giancarlo Sagastume
PhD Student
Bachelor's in Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Giancarlo seeks to improve current methods of bionic prosthesis control by investigating the effect of circuit design on grasp classification. His goal is to develop a more accessible, non-invasive control system.
Contact: gksagastume@ucdavis.edu
Patrick Trieu
PhD Student
Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering
Master's in Mechanical Engineering
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Patrick's goal is to investigate how a user's sense of embodiment over an assistive device, or their belief that the device is a part of their body, can be simulated in a virtual environment.
Contact: phtrieu@ucdavis.edu
Eden Winslow
PhD Student
Bachelor's in Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering
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Eden is interested in medical device design and neuro-prosthetic control. Her goal is to improve prosthetic arm control for pediatric patients. Her current project involves investigating the feasibility of decoding proportional force and position information from the muscles of children born without a hand.
Contact: ewinslow@ucdavis.edu
Peyton Young
PhD Candidate
Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering
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Peyton aims to investigate how pressure developments between the user and the prosthetic device can be used to improve upon prosthesis control techniques and provide insight into device fit.
Contact: pryoung@ucdavis.edu
Elisa Zhang
PhD Student
Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering
Master's in Robotics
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Elisa works to enhance pediatric prosthetics embodiment and control by using vibratory stimulation of muscle to induce illusory movement.
Contact: eyxzhang@ucdavis.edu
Master's Students
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Momchil (Chilly) Gavrilov
Master's Student
Bachelor's in Kinesiology
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Chilly works on the cognitive side of human-robot interactions. He investigates embodiment, and how to assess the quality of prosthetic interfaces using it. His goal is to define the human experience of interacting with robots and use it to influence design.
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Contact: mggavrilov@ucdavis.edu
Hayley Kumagai
Master's Student
Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering
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Hayley is interested in working with medical devices and is currently analyzing the precision and accuracy of motion capture systems for hand tracking applications. She is also working on quantifying human kinematics through motion capture and neural networks.
Contact: hekumagai@ucdavis.edu
Josh McGinnis
Master's Student
Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering
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Josh seeks to better understand the relationship between human and machine interfaces using a combination of virtual reality and gamified learning. He plans to apply these concepts to improve control of assistive devices.
Contact: jdmcginnis@ucdavis.edu
Alumni
- Marcus Battraw, PhD Graduate 2024
- Graduated with his doctorate and is currently an assistant professor at California State University, Chico
- Joshua Siegel, M.S. Graduate 2024
- Currently working towards his PhD at Carnegie Mellon University
- Aaron Eppstein, M.S. Graduated 2023
- Currently working at Zap Surgical
- Anna Rita Moukarzel, M.S. Graduated 2023
- Currently working towards her PhD at BLINC Lab at the University of Alberta
- Morgan Harris, M.S. Graduated 2022
- Currently studying prosthetics and orthotics at Baylor College of Medicine in the Texas Medical Center in Houston TX