Katherine M. Steele

Biography

Katherine M. Steele, is the Peterson Endowed Professor and Associate Chair of Research in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington. She leads the Neuromechanics & Mobility Lab, which integrates dynamic musculoskeletal simulation, motion analysis, medical imaging, and device design to understand and support human mobility (steelelab.me.uw.edu). She earned her BS in Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. To integrate engineering and medicine, she has worked in multiple hospitals including the Denver Children’s Hospital, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. For her research and innovations, she has been awarded a Career Development Award in Rehabilitation Engineering from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation CAREER Early Faculty Development Award, and the American Society of Biomechanics Young Scientist Award. In 2020, she co-founded and serves as Associate Director of CREATE (create.uw.edu), the Center for Research & Education on Accessible Technology & Experiences with partners from industry and academia in engineering, rehabilitation medicine, disability studies and information sciences. She is also the co-founder of AccessEngineering (uw.edu/doit/accessing), an NSF-supported program that supports individuals with disabilities to pursue careers in engineering and trains all engineers in principles of universal design and ability-based design to create more inclusive products, environments, and experiences. Her current work focuses on advancing access to and effects of assistive technology for children with developmental disabilities, including Cerebral Palsy and Down Syndrome, with funding from NIH, NIDILRR, Seattle Children's Hospital, and private donors.

Education

• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 2012
• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 2009
• B.S. in Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 2007

Previous appointments

• Post-doctoral Fellow, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
• Engineer, Lucille Packard Children's Hospital
• Engineer, Denver Children's Hospital

Honors & awards

• DO-IT Trailblazer Award, 2020
• American Society of Biomechanics Young Scientist Award, 2016
• UW College of Engineering Junior Faculty Award, 2016
• NSF CAREER Early Faculty Development Award, 2015
• OpenSim Fellow, 2014
• NIH K12 Career Development Award, 2013
• Kevin Granata Young Investigator Award, 2012