Human Machine Integration Lab

Tom Sugar, Ph.D., PE, Principal Investigator, CV

Dr. Thomas Sugar works in the areas of wearable robotics, rehabilitation, and gait assistance. In industry, he worked as a project engineer for W. L. Gore and Associates earning a Professional Engineering License. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Polytechnic School, and the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks at Arizona State University. He majored in business and mechanical engineering for his Bachelor’s degrees and mechanical engineering for his Master and Doctoral degree all from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Sugar leads a research effort in wearable robotic systems. He is developing robotic orthoses and prostheses for rehabilitation and enhanced mobility. His current research projects include HeSA, APEx, SPARKy, Spring Ankle with Regenerative Kinetics, a powered prosthetic ankle, PAFO, a powered ankle foot orthosis, and wearable exoskeletons for enhanced gait performance. Dr. Sugar also has co-founded SpringActive, Inc and the Wearable Robotics Association. The Wearable Robotics Association will host a wearable robotics conference, WearRAcon, in Phoenix on an annual basis.

We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives., JFK

• Mr. Ryan Bellman, Lead engineer at Mobility Research, Tempe, AZ
• Dr. Alex Boehler with his mechatronics started Robotic Elements
• Mr. Theirry Flaven who was the lab manager for many years
• Dr. Joseph Hitt whose vision has created and started GoX Labs
• Dr. Kevin Hollander with his mechanical design prowess
• Mr. Jason Kerestes who helped to develop many DARPA funded exoskeletons
• Dr. Chitralekha Nahar, Assistant Professor, Saffrony Institute of Technology, S.P.B. Patel Engineering College
• Dr. Sukumar Srikant, Assisatant Professor at IIT, Bombay

• Mr. Philip Sugar who gives advice, counsel and support

• I am quite proud of all of the outstanding students at ASU

• Dr. Vijay Kumar who was a mentor

Graduate Students

• Claudio Vignola, PhD

Undergraduate Students

• Jake Okun

Alumni

• Zheng Wang, PhD in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2005,
• Kevin Hollander, PhD in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2005
• Joseph Hitt, PhD in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2008
• Juan Oziel De la Fuente Valadez, PhD in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2016
• Nathan Cahill, PhD in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2017
• Robert Holgate, PhD in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2017
• W. Brandon Martin, PhD in Systems Engineering, graduated 2021

• Alex Boehler, PhD in Systems Engineering, graduated 2021

• Anthony Suluh, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2001
• Keshav Munhdra, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2002
• Dhiraj Nahar, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2002
• Kiran Shivanna, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2003
• Zheng Wang, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2003
• Kartik Bharadwaj, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2005
• Chitralekha Nahar, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2005
• Abhay Paranjape, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2006
• Sukumar Srikant, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2006
• Aykut Mehmet Oymagil, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2006
• Don Briner, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2008
• Alex Boehler, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2008
• Ryan Bellman, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2008
• Ashish Sardhara, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2009
• Adam Fronczyk, MS in Bioengineering, graduated 2012
• Jason Kerestes, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2014
• Andrew Bates, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2015
• Philip New, MS in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2015
• Raymond Churchwell, MS in Engineering, graduated 2020

• Bryan Carlton, MS Robotics and Autonomous Systems, graduated 2023

• Xiao Zhang, MSE in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2005

• Bekele Atnafu, MSE in Mechanical Engineering, graduated 2005

• Anthony Rico, Applied Project, 2019
• Clinton Ewell, Applied Project, 2020
• Conor Giam, Applied Project, 2020
• Gustin Lighthouse, Applied Project, 2020
• Aundre Garcia, Applied Project, 2020
• Animesh Tewari, Applied Project, 2021
• Gerard Fusaro, Applied Project, 2022

Exchange Students

• Kurt Baurenfeind
• Christian Mathis
• Robert Ilg
• Alexander Boehler
• Lukas Fink
• Sebastian Bereuter
• Philipp Pasolli
• Cathia Lize

Undergraduate Students

• Jennifer Fleeger
• Ryan Manis
• Nathan Cahill, NSF Graduate Fellowship Award for Year 2014
• Raymond Churchwell, NSF Honorable Mention for the Graduate Fellowship Award for Year 2015
• Eduardo Fernandez
• David Olivares
• Jonathan Harris
• James Lyon

Barrett Honors Theses

• Daniel Burns, NSF Graduate Fellowship Award for Year 2002
• Thomas Bowers
• Ethan Stump
• Nicholas Brindley, NSF Honorable Mention for the Graduate Fellowship in 2003
• Ryan Bellman
• Andrew Bates
• Tanguy Toulouse
• Kenny Greason
• Curtis Sparks
• Kyle Lewis
• Brian Burca
• Gerard Fusaro
• Nicholas Riley
• Jacob Yoshitake
• Bryan Carlton
• Reagen Gillespie
• Tallin Speek