University of Alberta

Funding

about me

I am am a Mechanical, Mechatronics, and Clinical engineer, the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital - University of Alberta Engineering Research Chair in Neurorehabilitation in the Imagination Centre, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and a Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alberta. My academic background is in signal processing, engineering mechanics, mechatronics, control, and computational intelligence. The current application of my research projects is in rehabilitation technologies, medical instrumentation, wearable technologies, ergonomics, and sports science. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of my research program, I collaborate with health scientists at hospitals across Canada.

Research Interests

• Neuro-musculoskeletal biomechanics

• Neurorehabilitation technologies

• Wearable sensors and robots

• Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)

• Biomedical data/signal processing

• Biomedical instrumentation design

• Gait, balance and fall risk assessment

APPOINTMENTS

• 2024-present: Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital – University of Alberta Engineering Research Chair in Neurorehabilitation

• 2024-present: Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta

• 2024-present: Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta

• 2021-2024: Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta

• 2015-2021: Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta

• 2015-present: Research Affiliate, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta

• 2012-2015: Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Rehabilitation Engineering Lab., Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto

• 2011-2011: Scientific Collaborator: Clinique Bois-Cerf (Hirslanden Klinik), Lausanne, Switzerland

• 2011-2011: Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Lab. of Movement Analysis & Measurement, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL)

• 2006-2010: Doctoral Research Assistant: Lab. of Movement Analysis & Measurement, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL)

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

• 2012- 2015: Postdoctoral Fellowship, Neuro-rehabilitation Engineering - University of Toronto, Canada (Supervisor: Dr. Milos R Popovic)

• 2011- 2011: Postdoctoral Fellowship, Biomechanical Engineering - Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL) (Supervisor: Dr. Kamiar Aminian)

• 2005- 2010: PhD, Biotechnology & Bioengineering - Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL) (Advisor: Dr. Kamiar Aminian)

• 2002- 2005: MSc, Mechanical Engineering - University of Tehran, Iran (Advisor: Dr. Caro Lucas)

• 1998- 2002: BSc, Mechanical Engineering - Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Iran

SERVICES

• Co-Director, Mechatronics & Robotics Co-op Program, Faculty if Engineering, University of Alberta (2024-present)

• VP – Technical Programs, Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) (2024-present)

• NSERC Discovery Grants Evaluation Group 1502 – Biological Systems and Functions (2021-2024)

• Executive Coordination Committee, Faculty of Engineering (2021-2024)

• Chair, Technical Committee of Biomechanics & Biomedical Engineering, CSME (2020-2024)

• Congress chair, 2022 CSME Congress, at University of Alberta

• Co-chair, Alberta Biomedical Engineering Conference (2017-2019)

• Faculty Advisor, Biomedical Eng. student group (UABiomed), Faculty of Engineering: www.uabiomed.ca

• Chair, Nominations Committee, Dept. Mechanical Engineering (2019 – 2020)

• Associate Editor, IEEE Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering

• Associate Editor, Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering

• Associate Editor, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living

• Academic Editor, PLOS ONE

Collaborations

• Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Edmonton, Canada

• Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Canada

• Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Canada

• Institut de réadaptation Gingras-Lindsay-de-Montréal, Canada (completed)

• McGill University, Montreal, Canada (completed)

• University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland (completed)

• Clinique Bois-Cerf, Lausanne, Switzerland (completed)

Professional Memberships

• Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), Licensed Member (P.Eng.)

• Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineers, Fellow Member (CSME)

• American Society of Biomechanics (ASB)

• American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)

• Canadian Society of Biomechanics (CSB)

• International Society of Biomechanics (ISB)

• European Society of Biomechanics (ESB)

• International Foot and Ankle Biomechanics Community (iFAB)

Teaching 

• Mechanical Engineering Lab I (MECE 301, Undergrad course)

• Mechanics of Machines (MECE 362, Undergrad course)

• Feedback Control Design of Dynamic Systems (MECE 420, Undergrad course)

• Undergrad capstone project advisor (MECE 460)

• Assessment and Analysis of Biomechanical Motion (MECE 686, Grad course)

• Applied Computational Intelligence for Engineers (MECE 694, Grad course)

Fellowships and Awards

• 2024: Graduate Teaching Award, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta

• 2020: MARS Spinal Cord Rehab Innovation Challenge (with Chester Ho and Vahid Abdollah)

• 2013: Swiss National Science Foundation Fellowship for Advanced Postdoctoral Mobility

• 2011: Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for Prospective Researcher

• 2015: Best Poster Award (Co-author), 16th Congress of European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Prague, Czech Republic

• 2015: Best Poster Award (Co-author), 4th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Spinal Cord Injury Society & American Spinal Cord Injury Association, Montreal, Canada

• 2006: Distinguished MSc thesis, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran