- Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering, Cleveland State University, 2014 – 2020
Dissertation topic: Development and evaluation of a powered pediatric lower-limb orthosis for rehabilitation and assistance of children with walking impairment
Elective coursework primarily on system dynamics, control, and mechatronics; GPA: 4.00
- Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with a minor in physics, Cleveland State University, 2009 – 2014
Senior capstone project: Development of a human-powered hydraulic bicycle and competed in the Chainless Challenge US national competition
GPA: 3.75
Education
Employment
- Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Michigan, May 2022 – Present
Investigating and applying control methods to powered prostheses for improving ease of use for applications in multiple tasks. Research supervised by Dr. Robert Gregg
- Postdoctoral Researcher, Cleveland State University, May 2020 – April 2022
Exploring novel control strategies in experimental application with the Indego Explorer exoskeleton by Parker Hannifin. Research supervised by Dr. Jerzy T. Sawicki.
- Graduate Assistant, Cleveland State University, July 2014 – May 2020
Pursuing doctorate in the Center for Rotating Machinery Dynamics and Control (RoMaDyC) lab under advisorship of Dr. Jerzy T. Sawicki.
- Intern, Aclara RF Systems Inc., June 2012 – Aug 2012
Managed transferring technical drawings, bill of materials, etc. to new Teamcenter software by updating inaccurate or missing documents and information when applicable.
- Engineering Intern, Fredrick, Fredrick & Heller, May 2011 – Aug 2011, Dec 2011 – Jan 2012
Design of plumbing, piping, and HVAC ductwork systems: load calculations, element sizing, and layout, primarily using AutoCAD MEP and Autodesk Revit software.
Collaborated with a team of electrical and mechanical engineers.
Publications and Patents
- C. A. Laubscher, A. Goo, R. J. Farris, and J. T. Sawicki, “Adaptive zero dynamics control on the Indego Explorer exoskeleton with variable walking speed,” IEEE Transactions on Robotics, under review.
- A. Goo, C. A. Laubscher, J. J. Wiebrecht, and J. T. Sawicki, “Design of an adjustable pediatric lower-limb exoskeleton with hybrid zero dynamics controller for gait guidance,” MDPI Bioengineering, vol. 9, no. 5, 2022.
- A. Goo, C. A. Laubscher, and J. T. Sawicki, “Hybrid zero dynamics control of an underactuated lower-limb exoskeleton for gait guidance,” ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, vol. 144, no. 6, 2022.
- C. A. Laubscher, A. Goo, R. J. Farris, and J. T. Sawicki, “Hybrid impedance-sliding mode switching control of the Indego Explorer lower-limb exoskeleton in able-bodied walking,” Springer Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, vol. 104, no. 76, 2022.
- J. T. Sawicki, C. A. Laubscher, R. J. Farris, and S. J.-S. Etheridge, “Actuating device for powered orthosis,” U.S. Patent No. 15/485,962, 2021.
- C. A. Laubscher, R. J. Farris, A. J. van den Bogert, and J. T. Sawicki, “An anthropometrically parameterized assistive lower limb exoskeleton,” ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, vol. 143, no. 10, 2021.
- C. A. Laubscher and J. T. Sawicki, “A robust impedance controller for improved safety in human-robot interaction,” ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, vol. 143, no. 9, 2021.
- A. Goo, C. A. Laubscher, R. J. Farris, and J. T. Sawicki, “Design and evaluation of a pediatric lower-limb exoskeleton joint actuator,” MDPI Actuators, vol. 9, no. 4, 2020.
- C. A. Laubscher, R. J. Farris, and J. T. Sawicki, “Angular momentum-based control of an underactuated orthotic system for crouch-to-stand motion,” Springer Autonomous Robots, vol. 44, no. 8, pp. 1469–1484, 2020.
- C. A. Laubscher, “Design and development of a powered pediatric lower-limb orthosis”, PhD Dissertation, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, US, 2020.
- C. A. Laubscher and J. T. Sawicki, “Robust control-oriented modeling of a feedback-linearized powered pediatric lower-limb orthosis,” in ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Salt Lake City, UT, US, 2019.
- C. A. Laubsher and J. T. Sawicki, “Gait guidance control for damping of unnatural motion in a powered pediatric lower-limb orthosis,” in IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, Toronto, ON, CA, 2019.
- D. J. Maher, A. A. Garnett, C. A. Laubscher, J. T. Sawicki, and D. J. Simon, “Extended Kalman filter-based control of a pediatric exoskeleton,” in ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Tampa, FL, US, 2017.
- C. A. Laubscher, R. J. Farris, and J. T. Sawicki, “Design and preliminary evaluation of a powered pediatric lower limb orthosis,” in ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, Cleveland, OH, US, 2017.
Projects and Achievements
- Designing, prototyping, and evaluating a powered pediatric lower-limb orthosis to assist and rehabilitate children with gait pathologies. This is my dissertation topic and is in collaboration with Parker Hannifin (2014 – 2020).
- Graduate Student Research Award funding from Cleveland State University (2019).
- Placed 3rd in Research Day poster competition at Washkewicz College of Engineering, Cleveland State University (2018).
- Mentored two students part of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in performing simulations and experiments involving the pediatric exoskeleton (2017).
- Developed a network protocol as a member of an international team providing a communications framework and API for programmers. Demonstrated an example application at the City Campus exhibition in Trier, Germany (2014).
- Designed and fabricated a hydraulic motor collaboratively with seven students to work on a human-powered hydraulic bicycle for use in Parker Hannifin’s Chainless Challenge competition (2012 – 2013).
- Student member of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society (2012 – Present), CSU NSF/STEM Program (2010 – 2013), and Scholars Program (2009 – 2013).
- Received multiple certificates for placement on the Dean’s List and President’s List as an undergraduate student at Cleveland State University (2009 – 2014).
- Placed 1st in Technical Drafting SkillsUSA regional competition (2009) and 1st in Related Technical Math SkillsUSA state competition (2008).
Other Skills and Interests
- Extensive experience with using MATLAB and Simulink throughout university and research career
- Significant use SolidWorks in pediatric exoskeleton design and hybraulic motor project
- Some exposure to Autodesk Inventor, Pascal, C# (.NET), Python