Advanced Arm Dynamics (AAD) has named Richard Weir, PhD, to serve as the company’s national director of research and development. Weir is a biomedical engineer who has focused his extensive research interests on neural engineering, biomechatronics, rehabilitation and the design of upper limb prosthetic components and their control mechanisms.
“I am excited to join Advanced Arm Dynamics and support their commitment to focus on exemplary patient care,” Weir stated in a company press release. “I am looking forward to merging my 20 years of experience in upper limb prosthetic research and development with their clinical team’s quest for excellence in prosthetic rehabilitation.”
As the director of the Biomechatronics Development Laboratory at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Weir worked on upper arm components for the Prototype 1 arm and the intrinsic hand for the Prototype 2 arm of the DARPA Revolutionizing Prosthetics program. He was the winner of the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Innovator of the Year Award for the design of the Proto 2 myoelectric arm as part of the Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 team led by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
“Traditionally, research and development for upper limb prosthetics has been approached through the prism of engineering,” John Miguelez, CP, president and senior clinical director, AAD, stated in the release. “By augmenting our clinical team with Weir’s extensive experience in research and development project management, AAD will maximize the combined intellectual capital of our clinical team with the ultimate goal of enhancing patient outcomes.”
