在机器人领域建立有意义的职业

Dean 和 Cindy Haagenson Endowed Professorship Strengthens Robotics 研究 to Improve Outcomes for Stroke Patients

埃里克·沃尔布雷希特, society’s toughest medical challenges will not be solved by students 和 faculty alone – solutions require the talents 和 commitment of alumni, medical professionals 和 entire communities working together.

“That is the environment we have at the University of Idaho; people work together for a common goal to achieve more than we can achieve individually,他说. “A big part of that collaborative effort is the U of I alumni who see value in the work being done 和 want to work toward the same achievements.”

Wolbrecht was recently named the U of I Dean 和 Cindy Haagenson Endowed Professor. 的养老, created by longtime university supporters 和 alumni Dean ’65 和 Cindy ’72, ’82, 87年Haagenson, supports faculty impact on student success 和 helps future students set a course for meaningful engineering careers.

“Dean 和 Cindy Haagenson are proud V和als who have a long history of giving to the university 和 their communities,Wolbrecht说. “他们的礼物延续了这种合作的传统, providing a consistent source of financial resources to recruit 和 develop undergraduate 和 graduate students 和 hire excellent faculty.”

The Haagensons have had a long-lasting impact in northern Idaho, 他们都是在邦纳斯费里出生长大的. Cindy’s 35-year career in special education in Coeur d’Alene 和 Dean’s entrepreneurial construction experience on large projects like the Kootenai Cancer Center in Coeur d’Alene, the couple saw the value 和 real-life applicability of Wolbrecht’s Assistive Robotics Lab on the U of I 莫斯科 campus.

实验室, co-facilitated by Wolbrecht 和 机械工程 Professor Joel Perry, gives students the opportunity to explore programming 和 machining skills as they develop 和 test complex robotic devices used to improve therapies 和 rehabilitative treatments for stroke survivors.

“The field of rehabilitation robotics has been around for several decades now,Wolbrecht说. “我们做了很多伟大的工作, but there’s also a lot more work that needs to be done to provide the best form of care that we can to people. 这就是为什么这笔捐赠如此重要.”

Dean 和 Cindy Haagenson are proud V和als who have a long history of giving to the university 和 their communities. 他们的礼物延续了这种合作的传统, providing a consistent source of financial resources to recruit 和 develop undergraduate 和 graduate students 和 hire excellent faculty.Eric Wolbrecht, Dean 和 Cindy Haagenson 机械工程 Endowed Professor

The endowed professorship provides a stable 和 permanent revenue source for research conducted in the lab. It allows U of I to hire 和 retain top faculty 和 research assistants, Wolbrecht说, while at the same time providing the university the opportunity to align itself with industry leaders 和 top medical staff.

Devices developed in the Assistive Robotics Lab are designed to analyze a patient’s limb movements, 确定行动受限的精确区域, gather data 和 help build better rehabilitation treatments.

普罗维登斯街的三个中风病人. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute in Spokane are currently testing a device focused on evaluating upper arm mobility.

“An endowment of this kind is a really powerful recruiting tool to continue our development of state-of-the-art research 和 to enable collaborations with other researchers in the state 和 在全国范围内，”Wolbrecht说. “The University of Idaho can really elevate its reputation 和 the quality of its research.”

本文由 亚历克西斯•特纳, 市场营销 和 通信 Manager, 工程学院.

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出版于2022年4月.