Dr. Hugh Herr is the founder and director of The Herr Institute for Human
Rehabilitation in Cambridge, MA. He is the co-director of The Leg Laboratory
and Lecturer in the Medical School at Harvard University. His research
interests are the areas of development of Human Assistive Technologies,
Mammalian Locomotory Control, Tissue Engineering and Robotics. The purposes of
the Herr Institute for Human Rehabilitation are: to develop assistive
technologies for the elderly and the disabled; to develop manufacturing
processes which reduce the costs associated with the production of assistive
technologies and to promote the distribution of assistive technologies
throughout the world.
When Hugh was a junior in high school, his lower legs were frostbitten severely
from a mountaineering accident and had to be amputated inches below the knees.
From this experience he developed an interest in inventing orthotic and
prosthetic appliances. He designed special legs for himself so that he could
continue to climb mountains and has devoted his life to assisting the elderly
and the disabled through his research. He has been featured on the Discovery
Channel for his development of prosthetic devices that increase human endurance
to rock climb, reduce metabolic energy requirements to cross country ski,
reduce stress on the spine during heavy lifting and increase the endurance of
physically disabled persons in climbing stairs.
Hugh received his B.A. Degree in Physics in 1990 from Millersville University.
He was awarded a Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship to attend Massachusetts Institute of
Technology where he graduated with a S.M. in Mechanical Engineering in 1993. He
continued his education at Harvard where he earned his Ph.D. in Biophysics in
1998.
Ascent: The Story Of Hugh Herr.
Technology And The Human Spirit: Merging Body And Machine
The Limits Of Human Performance
