Warren Dixon, Nitin Sharma, Matthew J. Bellman, Alan Hamlet, Christian Cousin, Courtney Rouse, Ryan Downey, Victor Duenas - 2019 recipient of IEEE Control Systems Technology Award

Award Received:

IEEE Control Systems Technology Award

Date Awarded:

2019

Warren Dixon

University of Florida

United States

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Warren Dixon

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Biography

Prof. Warren Dixon received his Ph.D. in 2000 from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from Clemson University. He worked as a research staff member and Eugene P. Wigner Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) until 2004, when he joined the University of Florida in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. His main research interest has been the development and application of Lyapunov-based control techniques for uncertain nonlinear systems. His work has been recognized by the 2019 IEEE Control Systems Technology Award, (2017-2018 & 2012-2013) University of Florida College of Engineering Doctoral Dissertation Mentoring Award, 2015 & 2009 American Automatic Control Council (AACC) O. Hugo Schuck (Best Paper) Award, the 2013 Fred Ellersick Award for Best Overall MILCOM Paper, the 2011 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Dynamics Systems and Control Division Outstanding Young Investigator Award, the 2006 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Early Academic Career Award, an NSF CAREER Award (2006-2011), the 2004 Department of Energy Outstanding Mentor Award, and the 2001 ORNL Early Career Award for Engineering Achievement. He is an ASME Fellow and IEEE Fellow, an IEEE Control Systems Society (CSS) Distinguished Lecturer, and served as the Director of Operations for the Executive Committee of the IEEE CSS Board of Governors (2012-2015). He was awarded the Air Force Commander's Public Service Award (2016) for his contributions to the U.S. Air Force Science Advisory Board. He is currently or formerly an associate editor for ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, Automatica, IEEE Control Systems, IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics: Part B Cybernetics, and the International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control.

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University of Florida

United States

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Nitin Sharma

North Carolina State University

United States

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Nitin Sharma

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Nitin Sharma received the B.E. degree in Industrial Engineering from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, India, in 2004, and the M.S. degree and the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, in 2008 and 2010 respectively. He was an Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Department of Physiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. From 2012-2017, he was an Assistant Professor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Pittsburgh, and was promoted to an Associate Professor in 2018. In 2019, he joined the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at North Carolina State University-Raleigh and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He has won O. Hugo Schuck Award for the Best Application Paper from the 2008 American Control Conference. His research in hybrid exoskeletons is funded by NSF awards and NIH. His awards include NSF CAREER Award in 2018, IEEE Control Systems Technology Award 2019, and NIBIB Trailblazer Award in 2021.

Research Interests: His research interests include the modeling, optimization, and control of functional electrical stimulation (FES), hybrid exoskeletons that combine FES and a powered exoskeleton. His research group has recently started looking into using ultrasound imaging-derived sensing signals to address human-robot interaction problems in rehabilitation.

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North Carolina State University

United States

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

United States

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Matthew J. Bellman

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Matthew J. Bellman

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Alan Hamlet

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Alan Hamlet

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Christian Cousin

University of Alabama

United States

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Christian Cousin

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University of Alabama

United States

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Courtney Rouse

Southwest Research Institute

United States

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Courtney Rouse

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As a research engineer at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in the Performance Metrology Group, my work focuses on automation of a variety of healthcare and human performance applications, from markerless motion capture to cell segmentation. At SwRI we are actively looking for research partners in both industry and academia.

I received my doctorate in mechanical engineering at the University of Florida in 2019 as a member of the Nonlinear Controls and Robotics Lab with PI Dr. Warren Dixon. My research focused on control of human muscle via functional electrical stimulation (FES), which has applications in rehabilitation for people with movement disorders such as stroke or spinal cord injury. Ideas from human-machine interaction were implemented to provide robotic assistance to subjects, while still promoting muscle contractions for sufficient exercise. Specifically, my publications explore FES cycling and biceps curls, with a focus on Lyapunov theory for switched systems to control the nonlinear and unknown system of multiple muscle groups and a motor. My work has been presented at multiple conferences such as IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, American Controls Conference, International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society conference, and appears in IEEE Control Systems Letters and Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. In addition to nonlinear control theory, I have taken classes in dynamics, neural engineering, and orthopedic biomechanics.

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Southwest Research Institute

United States

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Ryan Downey

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Ryan Downey

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, and

Victor Duenas

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Victor Duenas

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Citation:

For closed-loop functional electrical stimulation control methods leading to successful commercialization and personalized rehabilitative treatment options