National Students

Shivangi is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), Prayagraj. Her area of research focuses on studying the human musculoskeletal (MSK) biomechanics and its deviations on other space objects and in the case of earth-based pathologies. She has implemented this knowledge to refine an existing full-body MSK model through a novel muscle discretization technique. The refined version has been qualitatively validated to exhibit better knee stability and realistic characterization of mechanical support from muscles. Her project further investigates the effects of reduced gravitation (hypo-gravity) on human kinematics and dynamics, through computational simulation studies. Since some of the space-related MSK disorders like muscle atrophy, and bone loss can be correlated with Earth-based MSK disorders, the insights of this project may prove beneficial in devising rehabilitation devices and procedures. Shivangi is co-supervised by Prof. Ravi Prakash Tewari of MNNIT, and Assoc. Prof. Bhushan Borotikar.

Sarita is a Ph.D. student at Vishwakarma University’s Department of Computer Science. Sarita's proposed research topic is the Development and Evaluation of Virtual Reality-based rehabilitation tools for children with hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy (CP). Her proposed research is twofold: First, to develop and evaluate intellectually mapped VR-based free-play game environments in the Unity 3D platform by incorporating intellectual levels of use, and second, to build HCI design principles for the system by considering the empathetic view of children with CP. Her project is supported by a group of pediatric orthopedic surgeons from Jupiter Hospital, Thane, and the project is sponsored by an AR/VR start-up Sattvarise Technologies, Pune. This research will help clinicians and parents in managing Cerebral Palsy with immersive VR-based rehabilitation. Sarita is co-supervised by Prof. Yogesh Deshpande from Vishwakarma University, Mr. Devdatta Puntambekar, CEO, Sattvarise Technologies, and Assoc. Prof. Bhushan Borotikar.