Advanced Arm Dynamics (AAD), headquartered in Redondo Beach, California, has named Richard Weir, PhD, as the company’s national director of research and development. He is a biomedical engineer who has focused his research interests on neural engineering, biomechatronics, rehabilitation, and the design of upper-limb prosthetic components and their control mechanisms.
As the director of the Biomechatronics Development Laboratory at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Illinois, Weir worked on upper-arm components for the Prototype 1 arm and the intrinsic hand for the Prototype 2 arm of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Revolutionizing Prosthetics program. He was the winner of the Popular Mechanics 2007 Breakthrough Innovator of the Year Award for the design of the Proto 2 myoelectric arm as part of the Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 team led by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL), Laurel, Maryland.
“I am excited to join Advanced Arm Dynamics and support their commitment to focus on exemplary patient care,” Weir said.
“By augmenting our clinical team with Dr. Weir’s extensive experience in R&D project management, AAD will maximize the combined intellectual capital of our clinical team with the ultimate goal of enhancing patient outcomes,” said John Miguelez, CP, AAD president and senior clinical director.