Max Shepherd

Max Shepherd is an Assistant Professor at Northeastern University with a joint appointment in the Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences (Bouvé College of Health Sciences) and the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (College of Engineering). His research focuses on improving the design and control of robotic prosthetics and exoskeletons for individuals with mobility impairments, emphasizing gait rehabilitation, machine learning, and biomechanics. Dr. Shepherd holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University and completed postdoctoral research at Georgia Tech and a visiting scholar role at Ossur.

Education:

• PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2019
• MS, Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2017

Research Interests:

• Prosthetics and exoskeleton design/control
• Gait rehabilitation and preference optimization
• Wearable robotics for mobility enhancement
• Machine learning applications in biomechanics

Key Projects:

• Task-Agnostic Ankle Exoskeleton Control (NSF Grant, PI)
• Variable Stiffness Orthosis Development
• Footropter Prosthetic Prescription Tool

Awards:

• Fall 2024 Spark Fund Awardee
• Featured in Science Robotics (2023) for exoskeleton balance research

Labs/Teams:

• Shepherd Lab: Focused on wearable robotics, rehabilitation engineering, and locomotion assistance