Our people

Research interests

• Biomechanics
• Orthopaedic surgery
• Implant design
• Biomechanical testing
• Computational modeling
• Computer-assisted surgery

About professor McLachlin

Professor Stewart McLachlin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering (MME) at the University of Waterloo (Waterloo), starting this position in July 2017.

Professor McLachlin is leading a new research program in Orthopaedic Mechatronics at Waterloo, focused on biomechanical simulation, measurement and analysis of human joint mechanics and orthopaedic bone-implant systems. Outcomes from his work have been published in top journals in his field, and recognized in a landmark cervical spine injury classification paper by the international AOSpine organization.

Prior to joining Waterloo, professor McLachlin spent 16 months working with Synaptive Medical to develop and evaluate next-generation tools and techniques for image-guided spine surgery. His expertise and reputation in spine biomechanics has earned him awards from the Cervical Spine Research Society, the Canadian Orthopaedic Association, and recently from the International Society for Computer-Aided Surgery for his work in spinal cord tractography visualization using diffusion tensor imaging.

Professor McLachlin's Google Scholar

Claire Thompson is a MASc candidate at the University of Waterloo, supervised by Dr. Stewart McLachlin. Her research focuses on multiaxial loading in the lumbar spine and the implications towards soft tissue model optimization. Claire also volunteers at the school of anatomy, aiding in outreach tours and undergraduate course labs.

About Aleksander Rycman

Aleksander is a PhD Candidate in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo under supervision of professor Cronin and professor McLachlin. He has received his master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.

Aleks investigates and develops numerical human body models for safety, particularly in soft tissues and neural tissues injury prediction. This research is heavily industry and application oriented and is conducted in collaboration with Global Human Body Modeling Consortium (GHBMC).

Aleks is a recipient of Graduate Research Scholarship and International Doctoral Student Award.

About Daniel Fournier

Daniel is a former MASc student in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo. After receiving his Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo in 2017, he chose to pursue a Master of Science (MASc) degree to explore his interests in shoulder and clinical biomechanics. During his time as a graduate student, he was co-supervised by professor Stewart McLachlin (Mechanical Engineering - ORTHOtron group) and professor Clark Dickerson (Kinesiology - DIESEL group).

Daniel’s research focused on compensatory kinematics during rehabilitative shoulder exercises and the use of smartwatches to recognize and evaluate rehabilitative shoulder exercise performance. Daniel also collaborated on other projects: exploring genetic and physical factors associated with rotator cuff tear diseases; and testing if a smartwatch can determine arm elevation heights in a workplace setting.

About Harish Rao

Harish Rao was a Master’s student, co-supervised by professor Naveen Chandrashekar and professor Stewart McLachlin. His thesis project developed a subject-specific knee finite element model through medical image segmentation, high-quality hexahedral meshing and digitization of ligament insertion sites. Following model validation, a single-leg jump landing motion was simulated and anterior cruciate ligament strain was validated against previous in-vitro experimental data.

Harish obtained his bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from RV College of Engineering, India and worked at Schneider Electric for over 6 years designing switchgear products. Currently, he is a Senior Designer at an Ontario based startup - GRYP Technologies Inc., and develops solutions to reduce repetitive strain injuries in assembly line workers.

About Vignesh Sivan

Vignesh is pursuing a MASc in Systems Design Engineering and am co-supervised by professor Stewart McLachlin and professor Alex Wong. Prior to this, he completed a BASc in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

His research focus is on medical imaging and applications of deep learning in clinical settings.