Brokoslaw Laschowski

Dr. Brokoslaw Laschowski is a Research Scientist with the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Rehabilitation Team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and an Assistant Professor (status) in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. He also works as an Instructor in the Department of Computer Science and as an Affiliate Faculty Member in the Robotics Institute. He specializes in the field of biomechatronics (i.e., the integration of humans with machines), with an emphasis on modelling, optimization, and control of wearable robotic systems for human-machine interaction and legged locomotion. Applications of his research range from rehabilitation robotics and assistive technology (e.g., robotic prosthetic legs and exoskeletons) to neural interfaces and sensory feedback systems (e.g., smart glasses, haptics, and EMG and inertial sensors) for human-computer interaction. Overall, he develops robotic and computer technologies that interface with humans in order to improve health and performance.

Dr. Laschowski received his PhD degree from the Department of Systems Design Engineering, with a specialization in biomedical engineering, at the University of Waterloo and the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute. His PhD research focused on 1) mathematical modelling and computer simulation of human-robot interaction with energy-efficient actuators, and 2) computer vision and deep learning for autonomous control and planning of human-robot locomotion. He received his MASc degree from the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering also at the University of Waterloo, where he developed physics-based human computer models and predictive simulations of human motor control using mathematical optimization, specifically optimal control theory.

Dr. Laschowski has published in many leading scientific journals, including the Frontiers in Neurorobotics, the IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, and the Frontiers in Robotics and AI. He previously served on the executive committee of the Canadian Society for Biomechanics and worked at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and as a teaching professor at Humber College. To date, he has earned over $244,000 in scholarships and awards (e.g., from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) and co-authored grant proposals that received over $197,000 in research funding (e.g., from the Canada Foundation for Innovation). He has presented at many national and international conferences and was recently a Best Paper Award finalist at the IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics. His award-winning research has been featured on mainstream media networks like BBC World News, CBC radio, Forbes, and Maclean’s magazine, in addition to a recent keynote address by the founder and CEO of NVIDIA.

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