Kathleen H. Sienko

Kathleen H. Sienko is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering. She directs the Sienko Research Group, a multidisciplinary lab focused on developing technological solutions at the intersection of healthcare and engineering. Her work spans medical device design, design science, and engineering education with a strong emphasis on global health contexts.

Dr. Sienko earned her Ph.D. in Medical Engineering and Bioastronautics from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) program in 2007, an S.M. in Aeronautics & Astronautics from MIT in 2000, and a B.S. in Materials Engineering from the University of Kentucky in 1998.

• Ph.D., Medical Engineering and Bioastronautics, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, 2007
• S.M., Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000
• B.S., Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, 1998

Her research focuses on sensory augmentation, rehabilitation engineering, biomechanics, and medical device design with emphasis on global health contexts and task-shifting devices. She has pioneered efforts to incorporate global health technology constraints within engineering design education at undergraduate and graduate levels, establishing field sites in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia where numerous devices have been conceptualized and refined with local stakeholders. Her work in design science examines how and when designers use prototypes in development cycles and how prototypes assist during stakeholder interactions and user requirements identification.

Her recent publications reveal a strong trend toward human-centered approaches in global health design, with increasing focus on stakeholder engagement, contextual factors in engineering design, and equity considerations in health technology development. Her work bridges biomechanics, rehabilitation engineering, and design methodology with applications in balance assessment, medical device development for low-resource settings, and engineering education.

Dr. Sienko has received numerous prestigious awards including the NSF CAREER Award, University Undergraduate Teaching Award, Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize, and the Miller Faculty Scholar Endowed Award. Her recognition spans teaching excellence, research innovation, and outreach contributions.

• NSF CAREER Award, 2009
• Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize, 2012
• Miller Faculty Scholar Endowed Award, 2013
• University Undergraduate Teaching Award, 2012
• Raymond J. and Monica E. Schultz Outreach and Diversity Award, 2011

She has advised numerous graduate students including Nick Moses (who defended his dissertation in December 2023), Lucy Spicher, Marty Kilbane, and Ibrahim Mohedas. Her research has been supported by significant grants from the National Science Foundation, including the CAREER program, Research Initiation Grants in Engineering Education, and the Graduate Research Fellowship program, as well as funding from the University of Michigan's Rackham Merit Fellows program and Center for Research on Learning and Teaching.

The Sienko Research Group operates as a talented multidisciplinary lab developing novel methodologies to create technological solutions addressing pressing societal needs at the healthcare-engineering intersection. Current research thrusts include Design Science, Autonomous Vehicles, Balance, Sensory Augmentation, and Wearable Devices, with particular emphasis on how design ethnography can inform medical device development and how engineering students develop ethnographic skills for global health contexts.