Dana Solav completed her PhD studies in December 2016. Her PhD research was performed in the Biorobotics and Biomechanics Lab of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion, under the supervision of Prof. Alon Wolf and Prof. Miles B. Rubin.
Dana’s research focused on developing and validating advanced methods for human motion analysis, mainly for medical applications. These methods were aimed at improving the accuracy and robustness of motion analysis measurements, which are essential for understanding normal function as well as pathological condition of various biomechanical systems. The methods were applied to two types of movements: skeletal movements (specifically lower limbs and joints) and respiratory movements (analysis of respiratory function from the motion pattern of the chest wall surface).
During her graduate studies, Dana published 5 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and presented her work in 8 international conferences. She was awarded with several scholarship and prizes, including the Gutwirth, Fine, and Jacobs excellence scholarships, 3 prizes for student presentations in conferences, and the Katzir study grant.
During her PhD, Dana also worked as a teaching assistant in undergraduate courses, including Solid Mechanics 2 in the department of Mechanical Engineering, for which she received five times the award for excellence in teaching.
In January 2017, Dana moved to Cambridge to commence her postdoctoral fellowship in MIT. She will work in the Biomechatronics group of the Media Lab, under the supervision of Prof. Hugh Herr. The mission of this group is to restore function to individuals who have impaired mobility through research and development, and to develop technologies that augment human performance. Specifically, Dana will research the mechanical interfaces between the biological tissues and the artificial prostheses and orthoses, for example prosthetic sockets for amputees and the interfaces connecting exoskeletons to the human limbs and torso.