Profiles

Richard Barina is a MASc alum of the OrthoTron Lab, formerly supervised by Prof. Stewart McLachlin. He previously earned his BASc undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo in Mechatronics Engineering with a focus in biomechanics. Richard's research centered on the application of additive manufacturing to orthopaedics with a focus on intervertebral spinal implants. Richard has presented his work at the International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty (ISTA) conference on the computational topology optimization of spinal implants loaded under physiologic loads.

Rémy Benais completed his MASc at the University of Waterloo, supervised by Dr. Stewart McLachlin.  His research focused on finite-element modeling of bone-implant interactions in trabecular bone for spinal orthopaedic applications. He also developed a new method to evaluate intervertebral cage implant performance experimentally.

Christina Birch is a MASc student co-supervised by Prof. Stewart McLachlin and Prof. Naveen Chandrashekar. She joined the ORTHOtron Lab following her undergraduate in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Her current research is focused on finite element modelling for evaluation of safety footwear and prediction of metatarsal fracture in workplace accidents. Christina is supported by the NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Canada Standards Agency Group Graduate Scholarship, as well as through collaboration with ASTM International.

Noam Borenstein is an undergraduate student studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Noam worked as a part of the University of Waterloo’s team competing in the KUKA Innovation Award 2025 Medical Robotics Challenge developing a surgical navigation system for robotic assisted ACL reconstruction surgery. He has also worked in partnership with Vena Medical on image processing and AI algorithms for microangioscopy to assist in minimally invasive cerebrovascular procedures.

Gwennyth Caroll is an alum of the Orthopaedic Mechatronics Laboratory. She received her BASc in Biomedical Systems Engineering from the University of Toronto. 

Luka Cepuran is a third-year undergraduate student studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Luka’s work in Summer 2026 will focus on Finite Element Analysis of spinal implants, and CT analysis of stained intervertebral discs. 

Jonathan Chu is a MASc alum of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, under the supervision of Professor Stewart McLachlin in the OrthoTron Lab. He was also co-supervised by Professor Alexander Wong of the Vision and Image Processing Lab at UWaterloo, and Dr. Michael Hardisty of the Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab at Sunnybrook Research Institute. His research focused on applying AI and deep learning for medical image processing and analysis. He completed his BASc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

Jonathan Chu is a MASc alum of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, under the supervision of Professor Stewart McLachlin in the OrthoTron Lab. He was also co-supervised by Professor Alexander Wong of the Vision and Image Processing Lab at UWaterloo, and Dr. Michael Hardisty of the Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab at Sunnybrook Research Institute. His research focused on applying AI and deep learning for medical image processing and analysis. He completed his BASc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

Victoria Chuong is a MASc student in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering and supervised by Prof. Stewart McLachlin. Victoria completed her BASc in Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Her research will focus on the development and integration of imaging systems for biomedical and therapeutic applications.

Matheus Correia is a PhD alum of the University of Waterloo, supervised by Dr. Duane Cronin and Dr. Stewart McLachlin. He also earned his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on human body modeling for injury prediction with a special interest in neck muscle activation. Besides his doctorate research, he collaborated with industry partners to develop a novel synthetic turf finite element model for sports fields.

Marie De Mey is a MASc student in the ORTHOtron Lab, supervised by Prof. Stewart McLachlin. Marie previously completed her BASc in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Her research centers around deep learning and statistical methods applied to orthopaedics.

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.

Anandita Gautam is a MASc alum of the ORTHOtron Lab supervised by Prof. Stewart McLachlin and Prof. Naveen Chandrashekar. She did her undergraduate degree in Mechanical and Automation Engineering at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. Her research was centered on developing an instrumented foot form for testing metatarsal guards, aiming to enhance metatarsal injury prevention in workplace environments. Her work was conducted in collaboration with ASTM International.

Sarah Hynes is a MASc graduate of the ORTHOtron Lab, supervised by Prof. Stewart McLachlin. She previously earned her B.Eng in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Guelph. Sarah's research focused on flexible and adaptive tracking approaches for augmented reality in navigated spinal surgery.

Jonah Leinwand is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, supervised by Prof. Stewart McLachlin. He previously completed his BASc in Biomedical Engineering also at the University of Waterloo. His research centers around design, testing and analysis of spinal implants with a focus on artificial disc replacement. Jonah is funded by an NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship (M), and when not in the lab is an avid sports fan and runner.

Martine McGregor is an assistant professor (teaching) and PhD alum at the University of Waterloo. During her time in the ORTHOtron Lab, she was supervised by Dr. Stewart McLachlin funded by an Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship and W.S. Rickert Fellowship of Science. Her research focused on multiaxial loading in the lumbar spine and the implications towards implant failure. Martine was also involved in collaborative research with the Multiscale Additive Manufacturing (MSAM) group focused on design for AM in orthopaedics and manufacturability.

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Martine McGregor is a PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo, supervised by Dr. Stewart McLachlin funded by an Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship and W.S. Rickert Fellowship of Science. Her research focuses on multiaxial loading in the lumbar spine and the implications towards implant failure. Martine is also involved in collaborative research with the Multiscale Additive Manufacturing group focused on design for AM in orthopaedics and manufacturability.

Lauren Olszaniecki is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the University of Ottawa’s Biomedical Mechanical Engineering program who took part in the University of Waterloo Engineering Rising Stars Fellowship program for Summer 2026. Lauren supported research on vertebral interbody cages, simulated intervertebral discs and spinal ligaments, and protective metatarsal footwear standards.

In collaboration with the ORTHOtron Lab, Nick works directly with Vena Medical as an Applied Scientist, Machine Learning. Nick recently completed his PhD at the Vision and Image Processing lab at the University of Waterloo, and will now brings his expertise in Computer Vision to the ORTHOtron-Vena Mitacs partnership to drive impactful research and development in Canada's MedTech sector.

Harish Rao is a Master’s alum from ORTHOtron, where he was 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.

Aleksander is a PhD Graduate of the Department of 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 investigated and developd numerical human body models for safety, particularly in soft tissues and neural tissues injury prediction. This research was heavily industry and application oriented and was conducted in collaboration with Global Human Body Modeling Consortium (GHBMC).

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

Vignesh is a MASc alum in Systems Design Engineering and was 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 was on medical imaging and applications of deep learning in clinical settings.

Claire Thompson is a PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo, supervised by Prof. Stewart McLachlin. Her research focuses on parametric in-vitro testing of the lumbar spine and the implications of spinal passive stability structures. Claire enjoys working with the school of anatomy and acting as a teaching assistant for a variety of undergraduate courses.