The University of Oregon’s Department of Human Physiology will host a March 15 talk, “How People Get Around: The Biomechanics of Walking,” as part of the department’s ongoing lecture series.

The event – Art Kuo, a professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan – will be at 11 a.m. in Room 211 of the Lillis Business Complex. It is free and open to the public.

Kuo's research interests are in human walking, balance and other movements, using engineering principles to bridge between mechanics and biology. He directs the University of Michigan's Human Biomechanics and Control Laboratory, which pursues research topics such as design of prosthetic limbs, neural control of muscles, sensorimotor integration for balance, energetics of walking, mobility of older and impaired individuals, and robot locomotion.

In his UO lecture, Kuo will discuss the economy of human walking – how they can adapt their gait to minimize metabolic energy expenditure. He will explain how the principles of leg mechanics can lead to new concepts for the design of walking robots, prosthetics for lower limb amputees and devices to enhance or rehabilitate locomotion.

Kuo received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

The UO human physiology lecture series features two speakers each month.

- from the UO Department of Human Physiology