Andrew C Erwin

I have an open PhD position in my lab for a Fall 2025 start. Complete this interest form to be considered for the position and for additional information.

Dr. Andrew Erwin is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. Prior to joining UC, he was a postdoc at the University of Southern California and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His degrees are in mechanical engineering with a PhD from Rice University and a BS from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Research and Teaching Interests
​Physical human-robot interaction
Rehabilitation robotics
Bio-inspired robotics
Haptic interfaces
Motor learning
System dynamics and controls

With a perspective in robotics, my research focuses on understanding how forces and movements are executed in healthy function; how function might be restored, assisted, or substituted after injury; and how human movement can inspire the design and control of robotic devices.

See a complete list of my publications on Google Scholar

PhD: Rice University, Houston, TX, 2018 (Mechanical Engineering)

MS: Rice University, Houston, TX, 2014 (Mechanical Engineering)

BS: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 2012 (Mechanical Engineering)

2021 -2023 Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

2018 -2021 NASA Postdoctoral Fellow, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Peer Reviewed Publications

Grace Niyo, Lama I Almofeez, Andrew Erwin, Francisco J Valero-Cuevas (2023. ) An α-MN collateral to γ-MNs can mitigate velocity-dependent stretch reflexes during voluntary movement: A computational study. bioRxiv, , More Information

Hesam Azadjou, Michalina Błażkiewicz, Andrew Erwin, Francisco J Valero-Cuevas (2023. ) Dynamical analyses show that professional archers exhibit tighter, finer and more fluid dynamical control than neophytes. Entropy, , 25 (10 ) ,1414 More Information

A Scott Howe, Hari Nayar, Andrew Erwin, Greg Wang, Brian H Wilcox (2021. ) ATHLETE offloader limb as a high-capacity crane. AIAA ASCEND, , More Information

Andrew Erwin, Craig G McDonald, Nicholas Moser, Marcia K O’Malley (2021. ) The SE-AssessWrist for robot-aided assessment of wrist stiffness and range of motion: Development and experimental validation. Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering, , 8 , More Information

Nicholas Moser, Marcia K O’Malley, Andrew Erwin (2020. ) Importance of wrist movement direction in performing activities of daily living efficiently. IEEE International Conference of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), , 2020 , 3174-3177 More Information

Andria J Farrens, Andrea Zonnino, Andrew Erwin, Marcia K O’Malley, Curtis L Johnson, David Ress, Fabrizio Sergi (2018. ) Quantitative testing of fMRI-compatibility of an electrically active mechatronic device for robot-assisted sensorimotor protocols. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, , 65 (7 ) ,1595-1606 More Information

Andrew Erwin, Marcia K O’Malley, David Ress, Fabrizio Sergi (2017. ) Kinesthetic feedback during 2DOF wrist movements via a novel MR-compatible robot. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, , 25 (9 ) ,1489-1499 More Information

Andrew Erwin, Evan Pezent, Joshua Bradley, Marcia K O'Malley (2017. ) The effect of robot dynamics on smoothness during wrist pointing. IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR) , , 2017 ,597-602 More Information

Dylan P Losey, Andrew Erwin, Craig G McDonald, Fabrizio Sergi, Marcia K O’Malley (2017. ) A time-domain approach to control of series elastic actuators: Adaptive torque and passivity-based impedance control. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, , 21 (4 ) ,2085-2096 More Information

Andrew Erwin, Marcia K O'Malley, David Ress, Fabrizio Sergi (2015. ) Development, control, and MRI-compatibility of the MR-SoftWrist. IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), , More Information

Andrew Erwin, Frank C Sup IV (2015. ) A haptic feedback scheme to accurately position a virtual wrist prosthesis using a three-node tactor array. PLOS One, , 10 (8 ) , More Information

Ali Utku Pehlivan, Fabrizio Sergi, Andrew Erwin, Nuray Yozbatiran, Gerard E Francisco, Marcia K O'Malley (2014. ) Design and validation of the RiceWrist-S exoskeleton for robotic rehabilitation after incomplete spinal cord injury. Robotica, , 32 (8 ) ,1415-1431 More Information

Andrew Erwin, Frank Sup (2014. ) Design and perceptibility of a wearable haptic device using low-frequency stimulations on the forearm. IEEE Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS), , More Information

Andrew Erwin, Fabrizio Sergi, Vinay Chawda, Marcia K O’Malley (2013. ) Interaction control for rehabilitation robotics via a low-cost force sensing handle. ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, , More Information

Invited Publications

Francisco J Valero-Cuevas, Andrew Erwin (2023. ) Bio-robots step towards brain–body co-adaptation. Nature Machine Intelligence, 4 (9 ) ,737-738 More Information

2019 Los Angeles Postdoctoral Research Symposium 2nd Place Poster

2018 NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship

2017 IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics Best Paper Award

2015 IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics Best Student Paper Award

2013 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

2013 NASA/Texas Space Grant Consortium Fellowship

2012 Mission Connect Symposium 2nd Place Graduate Student SCI Poster

2012 University of Massachusetts 21st Century Leaders Award