Event
BIOE Seminar: Mechanics and energetics of walking with prosthetic limbs
Friday, October 10, 2025
10:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room #2121
Catherine Kuo
ckk@umd.edu
Ross Miller
University of Maryland, Department of Kinesiology
Abstract
Human movement can be viewed as a thermodynamic process: work is performed externally to move the body, at the cost of a decrement of internal ("metabolic") energy of the body. A high metabolic cost of walking limits mobility, promotes a sedentary lifestyle, is associated with numerous age-related detrimental health outcomes, and is a signature of many disabilities including lower limb loss. This talk will cover recent research in the speaker's lab on what can be done to mitigate an increased metabolic cost after limb loss, both in terms of engineering/orthopaedics of the prosthesis itself and in kinesiology/fitness effects on the capabilities of the user of the prosthesis.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Miller is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair for Academics at the Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland. He has bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University and a PhD in kinesiology from the University of Massachusetts. His research focuses on the biomechanics of human locomotion, using a combination of instrumented gait analysis and optimal control simulations to understand why humans move the way we do and the role of mechanical loading in health and human performance.
