Human Engineering Research Laboratories

12/22/2025

Through breakthroughs in AI, sensor fusion, kirigami-inspired design, and cloud computing, Rory A. Cooper, PhD, PLY and his team continue to redefine what’s possible - turning obstacles into opportunities and engineering a future where freedom is for everyone.

10/28/2025

Human Engineering Research Laboratories Director, Rory A. Cooper, announced as a finalist for 2025 U.S. Forces in Business Awards! 🏆

This celebration of military talent honors veterans thriving across the U.S. economy, and showcases aspirational employers for transitioning service members.

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ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴅᴇᴄᴀᴅᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ɪɴɴᴏᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

10/08/2025

Our 2025 Summit brought advocates, airlines, and policymakers together to push for more accessible ✈️🧑‍🦽

From DC policy updates to grassroots advocacy and industry insights, the message was clear: PVA is for and all travelers with disabilities!

Learn more about your rights, travel tips, and our advocacy work: https://pva.org/research-resources/tips-tools-resources/.

10/06/2025

08/14/2025

We had a great time welcoming visitors from the American Society of Biomechanics to our lab yesterday!

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ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴅᴇᴄᴀᴅᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ɪɴɴᴏᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

08/07/2025

Thank you to the PIT chapter of the Disability Alliance, including Megan Phibbons and Luke Perry, for hosting a Bakery Square demo day based around HERL's latest research and developments for our peers at Google!

Our team got to demo live products showcasing the groundbreaking work being done by the Human Engineering Research Laboratories on:

👩‍🦼‍➡️Wheeled Mobility - Jorge Candiotti, Sivashankar Sivakanthan.
🦾 Assistive Robotics - Breelyn Kane Styler, Lesong Jia
🕹️ Gamified Accessibility Education - Sangmi Park, Shantanu Satpute

Founding Director, Rory Cooper, kickstarted the event with a presentation on our leading research, which first debuted at the AI for Good summit in Geneva, Switzerland earlier this year!!

Congratulations to all involved.

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ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴅᴇᴄᴀᴅᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ɪɴɴᴏᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

08/05/2025

📌 2025 disABILITY Conference 📅 July 31st

Human Engineering Research Laboratories Founding Director, Rory A. Cooper, PhD, PLY, and Associate Director for Stakeholder Engagement, Rosemarie Cooper, were recognized for their contribution as presenters at this Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission symposium on Technology and Disability in July!

08/04/2025

08/04/2025

Dr. Rory A. Cooper is a veteran, an athlete and the holder of more than 20 groundbreaking patents in wheelchair and other assistive technology.

08/04/2025

03/21/2025

🏆 KEYSTONE. WHEELCHAIR. GAMES. 🐆
⚡2025 marks the start of a new era for para-athletes in the USA 🇺🇸
14 athletes, 5 events, 40 spectators - this year's Keystone Games hosted at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories kickstarted a series of annual adaptive sports championships to be held every winter, right here in

Congratulations to all the athletes that came out to compete this year!
Thanks to the immense acclaim and success of this inaugural competition, we are already working toward doubling the size of our tournament for next year.
Stay tuned for updates on the 2026 Keystone Wheelchair Games registration window dates.

Get more info about this year's concluded competition at
herl.pitt.edu/allevents

Easterseals

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ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴅᴇᴄᴀᴅᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ɪɴɴᴏᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

03/19/2025

It was a pleasure to welcome Rachael McDonald, Sameer More, and Mark Hanson of MedTechVic Hub from Swinburne University of Technology at HERL today! We discussed the work they're doing on end user co-design in over lunch in our collaboration workspaces.

Yet another example this year of HERL's strides toward 🌎

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ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴅᴇᴄᴀᴅᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ɪɴɴᴏᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ