Research and Development

Richard Weir, Ph.D. serves as Advanced Arm Dynamics' Industry Innovations Adviser. Dr. Weir interfaces with the clinical team to identify key research projects, develop strategic plans and coordinate implementation.  He also oversees the company’s research and development work with a range of national and international partners and seeks to maximize those opportunities. The overarching goal of all the research and development interests is to improve patient care through technology, materials or methods.    

Dr. Weir has more than 20 years of experience in biomedical engineering, research and education.  His work has focused on the design of upper limb prosthetic components and their associated controls, including implantable bioelectric sensors and robotics. He has written extensively for peer-reviewed publications, peer-reviewed abstracts and invited book chapters, and is an international lecturer.  

Dr. Weir has served as the director of the Biomechatronics Development Laboratory at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, working on upper arm components for the Prototype 1 arm and the intrinsic hand for the Prototype 2 arm of the DARPA Revolutionizing Prosthetics program. Other projects included externally powered partial hand prostheses for clinical use; multiple degree of freedom externally powered prosthetic hands; and a two degree of freedom wrist.

Dr. Weir was awarded the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Innovator award for the design of the Prototype 2 myoelectric arm as part of the Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 team led by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.  He was awarded two U.S. patents for prosthetic devices and has received numerous grant awards from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dr. Weir received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Engineering (BAI) in Microelectronics & Electrical Engineering from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.  He earned his Master of Science and Doctorate of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University.  He is a member of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, Sigma XI - The Scientific Research Society, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers - Bioengineering Society, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers - Robotics and Automation Society.