Rory Alan Cooper

Rehabilitation Engineering

Rory A. Cooper, PhD, is Founder and Director of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories, a joint center of the University of Pittsburgh and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and one of the world's most recognized leaders in rehabilitation engineering. For more than three decades, his research on wheelchairs, robotics, and assistive technology has advanced mobility and independence for people with disabilities and Veterans across the globe. His body of work, encompassing over 400 peer-reviewed publications and more than 40 U.S. patents, earned him the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from the President of the United States and induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. A Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors, Dr. Cooper remains a leading international voice shaping research, policy, and innovation in disability and rehabilitation.