Draft:Human Engineering Research Laboratories

• Comment: In accordance with the Wikimedia Foundation's Terms of Use, I disclose that I have been paid by my employer for my contributions to this article. Sofiamaurysh (talk) 14:30, 21 May 2026 (UTC)

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Human Engineering Research Laboratories

The Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL) is a rehabilitation engineering research center jointly operated by the University of Pittsburgh and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The laboratory conducts research in assistive technology, mobility systems, wheelchair design, and human performance for veterans and individuals with physical disabilities.

HERL operates within the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

History

HERL was established in 1994 as a joint program between the University of Pittsburgh and the VA to address gaps in mobility and rehabilitation technology for veterans with physical disabilities.

Rory A. Cooper, a wheelchair user and biomedical engineer, has served as the laboratory's founding director. Cooper's research focus on human-machine interaction and accessible mobility systems shaped the laboratory's early research agenda.

Research

HERL conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of engineering, rehabilitation science, and clinical medicine. Core research areas include manual and power wheelchair design, robotic mobility systems, human-machine interfaces, and upper-limb prosthetics and orthotics.

The laboratory publishes peer-reviewed research and works with clinical partners to translate engineering developments into assistive devices for veterans and civilians with disabilities.

Robotic wheelchair initiative

In November 2025, the University of Pittsburgh announced that HERL would lead a federally funded research program — valued at up to $41.5 million — to develop next-generation robotic wheelchair systems. The initiative is aimed at improving autonomous mobility and safety for wheelchair users with limited hand and arm function.

Recognition and outreach

HERL director Rory Cooper has received numerous national honors for his work in rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology. In 2023, President Joe Biden awarded Cooper the National Medal of Technology and Innovation — the nation's highest honor for technological achievement — at a White House ceremony. Cooper was simultaneously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in October 2023. In 2024, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest professional honors in the field, and named to the United States Olympians and Paralympians Association's Executive Committee.

Cooper was featured in a 2021 profile by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which highlighted HERL's participatory approach to assistive technology design and the laboratory's development of innovations including ergonomic wheelchair push rims and robotic transfer systems.

In July 2025, Cooper spoke at the United Nations AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, presenting HERL's work on artificial intelligence-powered assistive technologies and discussing the ethical dimensions of applying AI to rehabilitation engineering.

Cooper has also been featured by PBS NewsHour as an educator voice on invention and accessibility, and by NIH MedlinePlus Magazine for his career-long work developing mobility technology for veterans and people with disabilities.

Partnerships

HERL maintains active research partnerships with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, and federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. The laboratory also collaborates with academic and clinical institutions engaged in rehabilitation engineering research.