Michael A. Kokko
PhD Candidate
Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College
14 Engineering Drive
Hanover, NH 03755
About Me
Click here for my current CV (December 2020). You can also view older versions of my industrial resume and design/engineering portfolio.
As a researcher and engineer with nearly a decade of professional design experience in the robotics, personal protection, and medical device spaces, I am passionate about applying the principles of science toward improving the human experience. To this end, I am pursuing a PhD focused on developing state-of-the-art stochastic estimation and learning techniques for application in medical diagnostics and surgical devices. By extending and adapting mathematical models developed in such disparate fields as robot navigation, meteorology, computational biology, and finance, my current work seeks to bring intelligent instrumentation and algorithms into the OR, guided by vision of improving patient outcomes and making high quality healthcare available to all. In the context of total joint arthroplasty, I have worked on systems for validating intraoperative knee alignment and monitoring implants for early signs of postoperative infection. I am also active in developing navigation and control strategies for robotic-assisted and microrobotic surgery.
I returned to academia in 2016 (after just shy of 9 years in industry) with three primary objectives:
- To foster my passion for teaching through immersion in postsecondary engineering education
- To develop research skills including writing grant applications and scientific manuscripts
- To deepen my understanding of applied mathematics and rigorously explore the theoretical underpinnings of engineering science
My dissertation advisors are Dr. Ryan Halter and Dr. Douglas Van Citters.
Research Interests
- Surgical Navigation and Intrapoerative Robotic Instrumentation
- Modeling and Control of Complex Dynamical Systems
- Statistical Estimation and Learning
Teaching
- ENGS 72 Applied Mechanics: Dynamics (Engineering Dynamics)
- Instructor Winter 2021: currently restructuring and delivering course as a remote offering with both synchronous and asynchronous components during COVID-19
- Instructor Fall 2019 on a lecturer appointment as a graduate teaching fellow; reworked and delivered all 34 lectures under the supervision of Dr. Douglas Van Citters
- Lead teaching assistant 2016-2018 under Dr. Douglas Van Citters
- Delivered several lectures each year in addition to conducting weekly problem sessions and exam reviews
- Developed extensive course notes to bridge the gap between our application-focused text (Hibbeler) and more rigorous, theoretical treatments
Selected Academic Talks
- "Pushing the Limit (Cycle): Nonlinear Dynamics and Limit Cycle Analysis in Biomedical Engineering." Dartmouth Engineering in Medicine Lecture Series. December 1, 2017 (slides)
- “How Good Is My Diagnostic Test?” Dartmouth Engineering In Medicine Lecture Series. April 28, 2017 (slides)
Industry Experience
- Senior System Integration Engineer, Simbex (2011 - 2016)
- Project manager / technical lead for Personnel Borne Blast Dosimeter SBIR project
- Project manager / technical lead for TheraSense Dynamic Support Surface for Pressure Ulcers (advanced offloading medical mattress)
- Robotics Engineer, Vecna Technologies (2007 - 2011)
- Designed, fabricated, and tested electromechanical and hydraulic hardware for BEAR robot lower extremities (IEEE Spectrum coverage)
- Developed early hardware prototypes for mobile robotic fulfillment platforms
- Contributed to early medical kiosk design, now deployed at VA medical centers across the US
Follow @treelinemike
orcid.org/0000-0003-4530-1918