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The Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering presents its fall 2025 seminar series featuring José Pons, scientific chair of the Legs and Walking AbilityLab at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, who will present “Witnessing a Wearables Transition for Rehabilitation of Neurological Conditions.” This seminar is open to the public and will take place on Wednesday, August 27, from 12:45–1:45 p.m. in room 104 of the Rettaliata Engineering Center.

Abstract

Wearable exoskeletal robotics and neuroprosthetics can play a role in rehabilitation and functional compensation in a number of neurological conditions, e.g. hemiplegia post stroke, paraplegia or quadriplegia post SCI, which lead to severe motor impairments. In addition to classical intensive training, these technologies can be used for assessment, to establish causality between motor intent and assistance and to effectively alter neuromechanics. We will illustrate a transition from hard rehabilitation robotics to implantable neuroprosthetics and show how they can be used to promote neuromechanical adaptations which are consistent with motor improvements, and how they can find the way to translation to clinical practice.

Biography

José L. Pons graduated in mechanical engineering (Universidad de Navarra, Spain, 1992), and obtained an M.S. in information technologies (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain, 1994), and a Ph.D. in physics (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1997), for his research work on dynamic optimization of robot mechanisms. Pons currently serves as the scientific chair of the Legs and Walking AbilityLab at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago). In addition to his research leadership role at SRAlab, he holds appointments as professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Feinberg School of Medicine and at the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University. Previously, he was full professor at the Center for Automation and Robotics (2008) and at Cajal Institute, Spanish National Research Council, where he led the Department of Translational Neuroscience and the laboratory for Neurorehabilitation. Pons is interested in the study and understanding of how central and peripheral sensorimotor mechanisms are orchestrated for the emergence of motor function. This includes the study of how sensory technology and processing can be used for an objective assessment of these mechanisms and functions. This line of research is also then used to get an insight on the neuromotor system, which can inform better technology-based interventions. He serves in the editorial board of Wearable Technologies, Frontiers in Neuroprosthetics, Bionics and Biomimetics, Translational Neuroscience, and a fellow of the AIMBE.