Leia Abigail Stirling (''née'' Blumenthal) (born 1981) is the

Charles Stark Draper Charles Stark "Doc" Draper (October 2, 1901 – July 25, 1987) was an American scientist and engineer, known as the "father of inertial navigation". He was the founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Instrumentati ...

Professor of

Aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, where she is the co-director of the human systems laboratory. She was elected an

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

Leshner Leadership Institute Fellow in 2019.

Early life and education

Stirling studied engineering at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

, completing her master's degree in 2005. She earned her PhD at

in 2008. After graduating, Stirling completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the

Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2012 is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital located in Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical Scho ...

. She moved to the

Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (pronounced "veese") is a cross-disciplinary research institute at Harvard University focused on bridging the gap between academia and industry (translational medicine) by drawing inspirat ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 2009, where she worked as director of the Motion Capture Laboratory. There, she worked on robotic devices that could improve the function of the hands of people who had suffered from stroke or

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

Research and career

Stirling joined

in 2013, where she co-directs the Human Systems Laboratory. She works on

human–computer interaction Human–computer interaction (HCI) is research in the design and the use of computer technology, which focuses on the interfaces between people (users) and computers. HCI researchers observe the ways humans interact with computers and design tec ...

and computational dynamics. She seeks to quantify the fluency of humans and machines in tightly coupled systems through the use of wearable sensors. She works on how to map wearable sensor information to a visible display. This information can help in the design of spacesuits, as well as helping people who have sensory disorders identify ways to interact with their environment. In the design of spacesuits, Stirling has studied whether haptic feedback could be used to help astronauts feel around their environments. Amongst these sensors, Stirling is interested in using them for the rehabilitation of stroke patients. Stirling believes that the development of high fidelity sensors will help rehabilitation survivors monitor their well-being and performance. Stirling is interested in the use of

exoskeletons An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...

for humans to enhance performance and reduce workplace injuries. Whilst exoskeletons have been proposed for use in the military, Stirling identified that they can reduce a soldier's response times. Stirling serves on the

ASTM International ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, an ...

F48 Committee on Exoskeletons and Exosuits. In 2019, Stirling was selected as an

Leshner Leadership Institute Fellow. She leads public engagement activities at the

MIT Museum The MIT Museum, founded in 1971, is located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It hosts collections of holography, technology-related artworks, artificial intelligence, architecture, robotics, maritime histor ...

, including leading a

wearable technology Wearable technology is any technology that is designed to be used while worn. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches and smartglasses. Wearable electronic devices are often close to or on the surface of the skin, where they detec ...

challenge for teachers and high school students.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stirling, Leia Abigail 1980 births Living people MIT School of Engineering faculty University of Illinois alumni MIT School of Engineering alumni