Surgical Devices

The surgical devices research thrust is focused on fundamental research and design of advanced surgical tools and training systems to enhance procedure delivery and patient outcomes.

Faculty

Jason Moore, Ph.D.
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Research: Medical training, medical device design, soft tissue mechanics

Ephraim W Church, M.D., FAANS, FACS
Biodevices in Cerebral Bypass and Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery
Research: Cerebral blood flow, surgical devices, neuromicrosurgery

Beth Cutezo
Assistant Teaching Professor of Nursing

Mary Frecker, Ph.D.
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering and Riess Chair in Engineering
Research: Surgical instruments, compliant mechanisms, smart materials 

Reuben Kraft, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Institute for Computational Data Sciences 
Research: Brain biomechanics, cloud computing, wearable diagnostics 
Research lab website

Scarlett Miller, Ph.D.
Professor of Engineering Design, Industrial Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering; Director of the Center for Research in Design and Innovation
Research: Ergonomic product design, design cognition, and human-computer interaction

Matt Parkinson, Ph.D.
Professor of Engineering Design and Mechanical Engineering and Director of The Learning Factory
Research: Biomechanics and mechanobiology, design and manufacturing, engineering design

Sean Knecht, Ph.D. 
Associate Teaching Professor of the School of Engineering Design and Innovation 
Research: Physical-plasma; reactive oxygen and nitrogen chemistry; pathogen control 

Barry Fell
CEO at Cranial Devices, Inc.  
Surgery Innovation Group Consultant 

Randy Haluck, M.D.
General Surgeon

Ola Rashwan
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Lisa Sinz, M.D.
Associate Dean for Clinical Simulation

Akif Undar, Ph.D. 
Professor of Pediatrics, Surgery, and Biomedical Engineering  
Founder and Director, Penn State Pediatric Cardiovascular Research 
Research: Pediatric mechanical circulatory support devices; cardiopulmonary bypass extracorporeal  membrane oxygenation
Research lab website

John Oh, M.D.
Associate Professor of Surgery  
Research: Surgery, trauma, critical care

Elias Rizk, M.D. 
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery 
Division Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery 
Research: Regeneration, hydrocephalus

Hee Jeung Oh, Ph.D. 
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering 
Research: Polymers, membranes, 3D printing 

Adomas Povilianskas, M.S. 
Assistant Teaching Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics  
Research: Robotics, advanced manufacturing, procedural geometry generation 

Anthony Tsai
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Research: Chest wall deformities

D. Andrew (Drew) Wilkinson
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery (Endovascular and Cerebrovascular)
Research: Neuroendovascular, stroke, brain hemorrhage

Sample Projects

Dynamic haptic robotic training to decrease catheter procedure complications
Jason Moore, Scarlett Miller, and David Han

Plasma device to treat cardiovascular infections
Sean Knecht