Vigneshwar is a mechanical engineer who is involved in the design and R&D of the projects. The orthotic knee joint is the first project he was part of, from design assistance to final quality assurance.

Simultaneously, he handled the Gait system and Vo2 analyser to generate data for the biomechanical analysis of subjects. Then, he was involved in developing a Polycentric Prosthetic Knee (KADAM), from design modifications to user feedback in all aspects to meet the standards and user expectations. His other projects involve Ez Lok Orthotic Knee Joint and Swimming Pool Lift. 

Currently working as a Senior Engineer at R2D2, Rahul has worked on various projects such as Saathi WalkChair, Gait trainer, Electric Standing Wheelchair, CP chair, customisable back brace, scoliosis correction brace and ankle therapy device.

After completing a Master's in Design Engineering at IIT, Delhi, his search for an opportunity to design and develop innovative products that are useful to society led him to R2D2. His absolute love for the products in the technology field and preference for using customized and personalized products got him interested in assistive technology, where the need for personalization is high.

Having played football in college, he loves following football religiously. He loves to cook and binge-watch, apart from spending time with his family and cats.

Siddharth is currently working as a Product Design and Development Engineer at R2D2, IIT Madras. He has completed his B.E in Automobile Engineering from the Institute of Road and Transport Technology (IRTT), Erode (Now Government Engineering College, Erode) and his M.Des in Product Design & Manufacturing from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. 

At R2D2, he seeks to blend Product Design and Design Engineering principles to create Novel and Functional Products. He is currently working on projects like Smart Mobility based device for wheelchair users and Vision Enhancer

His domains of interest include Product Design, Mechanical Design, Design Thinking, Robotics and Smart Mobility.

Dheeraj K Panicker completed his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Production Engineering from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, Kerala. 

During his time at college, he organized a social fest, Trika '20, the first of its kind in Kerala. As part of his college design project, he designed a portable ramp facility allowing differently-abled people to access beaches and experience the waves. He is a design engineer working on Saathi WalkChair and Stair Climbing Wheelchair.

He is a huge fan of O. V. Vijayan and Gabriel García Márquez because of the magical realism in their books, loves to watch and play football, and is also interested in cricket.

Harish is a mechanical engineer with experience in both the manufacturing and design sectors. He completed his undergraduate degree from Velammal Engineering College. Currently, working as a Design Engineer at R2D2, he is focused on the Thryv Mobility wheelchair project.

Before his current role, he worked as a graduate technician at ZF WABCO India Limited and as a Design Engineer at Apzem India Engineering, where he gained valuable experience working on air pollution control systems.

In addition to his professional experience, he was a dedicated basketball player during his school and college days. Through his love of sports, he learned the value of teamwork, dedication, and hard work.

Rajesh Kumar is a senior fabrication and assembly Technician, educated at the Industrial Training Institute. Besides, he holds a bachelor’s degree in arts. 

Rajesh started working on the Gait trainer and Standing wheelchair then worked on NeoFly, NeoBolt, Saathi Walker, Beach Wheelchair, TCM, Walk chair and Body Movement Wheelchair. Rajesh is an expert in identifying fabrication possibilities and enhancements that helps the research team during the design process. His keen interest in the area led him to learn Solidworks and Master cam.  

He loves to play cricket, volleyball, and football, and he is very interested in trekking and sea swimming.

Seethapathi is a Senior Machinist at R2D2 and holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering. He has worked on various projects such as Arise Standing Wheelchair, NeoFly, NeoBolt and EZ-LOK orthotic knee and has been involved in the assembly and associated works of Prosthetic knee and Hip simulators.

He voluntarily trained in Mastercam and has taken responsibility for manufacturing prosthetic knee prototypes at R2D2. With over 5 years of experience, he has accumulated a wealth of knowledge that makes him more productive, easily takes on challenges, and achieves the required output.

He is interested in developing educational games for school children. He likes to play cricket and listen to music.

Sathish completed his undergraduate degree in Mechanical engineering from Thanthai Periyar Government Institute of Technology, Vellore and then pursued a master's program in Bioengineering from Christian Medical College, Vellore. As part of his master's thesis, he worked on a Plug and Train Robot for hand rehabilitation (PLUTO). He is now a project associate in R2D2, IITM, on the same project. He works on mechanical design and inventory management for the commercialization of PLUTO. In his free time, he enjoys watching movies and sports.

Clinton completed his B.E. in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Kingston engineering college. 

Clinton was part of the 4.5 years Health care Administration. Managing centres across Tamil Nadu, PnL, Billing reconciliation, Centre Staff Management, and Training admins for the Dialysis Hospitals. Clinton joined R2D2 -PLUTO in 2022 Apr as a  Project Associate. He was involved in setting up the Inventory, Fabrication part, Admin related works, and strap and foam preparation support given to Pluto Project. He interacts with user Patients for clinical trials, medical professionals, hospitals, rehab centres and other channels in the mobility assistive space.

Clinton is passionate about all indoor and outdoor sports, especially football.

Manavalan completed his bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Jeppiaar SRR Engineering College, Chennai. After that, he worked as a maintenance trainee in Sri Ramalinga Mills, Aruppukottai, for a year. He worked for a few months in Maintenance & Store Department at Kusauto PVT Ltd Chennai 

Manavalan Joined the R2D2 lab in June 2022 as a Project Associate. He Worked on an Electroporation Project (Electric Circuit code & designing). Currently, he's Working on the design and development of a portable weighing Scale for bed-ridden patients. 

In his free time, he plays Cricket and Watches sports and movies and he loves to travel. 

Praveen Kumar completed his undergraduate degree in Mechanical engineering from Global  Institute of Engineering & Technology, Vellore, post which he worked 3yrs of  R&D and Service  Engineer for Indian railway, and also metro rail track inspection in S.V.A. Rikkon Lubes Pvt. Ltd. And then in the lubrication field as a Service Engineer in Auto Lubricators (SKF LINCOLN). 

Praveen joined R2D2 Project Associate in Plug and Train Robot for hand rehabilitation (PLUTO) IITM. He works on mechanical design and all the 3D Print machines to handle, fabricate and assemble parts of PLUTO. And then, he interacts with users and patients for Clinical Trials, medical professionals hospitals rehab various centres. In his free time, he plays shuttle and cricket and enjoys watching movies and sports

Dharmesh is a mechanical engineering graduate from V. V. P. Engineering College, Gujarat. He is interested in biomechanics and the development of prosthetics.

He has more than 8 years of experience in the design and manufacturing field and more than 3 years of experience in linear, non-linear, static and dynamic analysis. 

Currently working as a project associate at R2D2 lab for research and development of affordable prosthetic foot and also looking for research in energy storing foot development.

He is also interested in travelling and exploring ancient sites and temples of India and different cultural activities in India.

He completed his undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering from the Government College of Engineering – Tirunelveli. 

Thiagu joined the AREBO team as a project associate in June 2022. He handles Mechanical Design, Fabrication and 3D printing of the Rehabilitation robot. 

He likes to explore music and meditates during his free time. 

Aghil is a  product design engineer who graduated from Calicut University. During his graduation, he invented the patentable machine to bind books using the hand-operated perfect binding machine and has one published patent in his name. Aghil joined R2D2 with more than four years of experience in the field of product design, development, and manufacturing. He got upskilled in mechanical product design from CADD Centre and did PGCCPD from CREST-IIMK institute.  

Aghil is passionate about learning new skills and acquiring knowledge. He likes reading books, watching YouTube infographics videos, and following geopolitics. He is very interested in yoga and spirituality. 

Bowya completed an undergraduate degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Ganapathy Tulsi's Jain engineering college, Vellore and joined as an Apprentice trainee in quality management at Schneider Electric. She worked in the Dept of Physiology, CMC Vellore as a Research fellow on a blood pressure project. She worked on electronic circuit design, assembly and testing, software development and maintenance and Clinical data management.

Bowya joined R2D2 in July 2022 as a project associate. She is currently working on the PCB designing and testing of the hand-held dynamometer.

Her hobbies are playing badminton, Traveling during rainy days, watching series and spending time with loved ones.

Likhitha completed her B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering (Production) from T. K. M. College of Engineering, Kollam. She worked at Infosys Limited as a system engineer. 

Likhitha coordinated many sociocultural events in the college, which helped her to improve her leadership skills. She participated in the National Electric Kart Championship in 2019. She qualified for all the safety rounds in her first attempt in the NEKC Championship 2019 during her studies at T K M. 

She joined R2D2 as a design engineer.  She is a team player with a professional attitude and achievement motivation. She is curious to learn new things, experience new cultures, and meet new people.

Anisha completed her Electrical and Electronics Engineering bachelor's degree from Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Chennai. 

She worked with a startup where she designed two medical device products which are there on the market now. She is a passionate Embedded Engineer who designs the product right from the architectural idea. She is a person who loves fraternising and strongly believes in teamwork. 

Besides academics, she does wall paintings and gardening.

Prashanna is an automation engineer with exposure to both electronics as well mechanical elements and a passion towards rehabilitation device development. He joined as a mechatronics engineer with Thryv Mobility in June 2023. He did his masters in Industrial Automation and Robotics with Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Sriperumbudur in the year 2023  and received his bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Kongu Engineering College, Erode in the year 2019. 

Prior to this work experience, he worked with TITAN Company Limited - Watches and Wearable Division as Senior Engineer, Automation and Machine Maintenance for two and a half years where he gained experience in building custom automation solutions to meet the company’s needs. He has published 5 indexed journals and filed 2 patents (published and grant pending). 

Apart from his professional experiences, he is a DIY enthusiast and an avid biker who engages in road trips to explore the beauty of nature. He is a music maniac and a curious person with an innate interest towards learning new things and engaging with new people.

Erin Jossy is a mechanical engineer who has completed his undergraduate degree from NIT Calicut. During his study, he has been a crucial member of the Robotics Interest Group (RIG) a student club that focuses on the field of robotics.  As part of the final year project, he developed a patentable novel gripper that can be used to capture objects irrespective of their shape and orientation. Which helped him realise his passion towards product design and development. He likes mythology, history and football.

Sridhar K completed his Mechanical Engineering degree at Thanthai Periyar Government Institute of Technology in 2018. He then worked at Best Fab Technical Services in Coimbatore for 9 months before joining VBK Fibreo Tech Industries in Gummidipoondi, where he spent 4 years and 3 months.

At Best Fab Technical Services, Sridhar K supervised production systems, coordinated design and production stages, analysed manufacturing processes for improvements, and managed a team of mechanical engineers. He also handled material ordering and documentation. 

At VBK Fibreo Tech Industries, Sridhar K was involved in designing products based on customer ideas, performing analyses for design competence, and managing the entire process from design to production. He focused on improving product quality, addressing customer feedback, and overseeing employee allocation as a shift in charge. Currently, he is working on a PLUTO project as a product development engineer. He likes to read history books. He listens to music in his free time.

Aparna is a mechanical engineer who recently graduated from the Federal Institute of Science and Technology in 2023. During her time in college, she successfully developed an unmanned aerial underwater drone as her final year project. 

She actively participated in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) E-Fests. She has made and raced a drone as a part of the E-fest. She has also designed a hovercraft and achieved national recognition with her team, securing a third prize. She enjoys watching Formula 

Hena is a psychologist with over 15 years of experience in disability rehabilitation. She is an alumnus of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit and Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala. Her doctoral thesis was about movement disorders. She has several publications to her credit and has co-authored the book “Managing soft skills for personality development” published by Tata McGraw Hill. 

Hena worked as a lecturer in Disability Studies at Inter-university Centre for Disability Studies, M.G University. She led the training team for India’s pioneer Inclusive DRR project and the professional Psychological First Aid team in Kerala. She is the Co-founder of SEK Foundation, an NGO providing comprehensive Sexuality Education among children and youth in Kerala.

Hena joined R2D2 with a vision to connect the academic and technological community to persons with disabilities. She strongly believes Assistive Technology is the key to ensuring equity. Hena coordinates the activities of the National Centre for Assistive Health Technology (NCAHT) at R2D2.  

She loves to learn about people, a hardcore music lover who enjoys driving,  travelling and reading.

Contact: nnhena@gmail.com

Kritika is a Physiotherapy alumnus from Christian Medical College, Vellore, and School of Allied Health Sciences (MAHE), Manipal. She is a postgraduate in Neurosciences Physiotherapy and has more than four years of experience in treating patients who have neuromotor disorders with a specific focus on spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

She is currently a part of the Touch REHAB project under R2D2 as Content Leader and leads a subsidiary project, Touch FREEDOM. Both projects are user oriented and aim at disseminating evidence-based information about best affordable practices to live well with spinal cord injury. The projects also focus on delivering rehabilitation-related guidance to users with spinal cord injuries in remote locations to enable them to lead an independent life.

In her free time, she loves to read and has a newfound love for gardening.

Gayatri is a physiotherapist with a master’s specialization in biomechanics. She has formerly served in a multi-speciality hospital during the first wave of the covid pandemic. Furthermore, she has assisted in developing running and cycling biomechanical analysis protocols for 2-dimensional software-based assessments.

Currently, she is working as a Clinical Specialist with the Clinical Team at R2D2, IIT Madras, where she works on the research activities of the department’s assistive devices. She is a passionate researcher and firmly believes that injury, pain, or disability should not be a restrictive factor for people’s desired activities; hence joined R2D2 in September 2022 to work on assistive devices. 

She has a keen interest in sports and cultural arts. As a sportsperson, she has won the National Karate Grand Championship. Additionally, she’s a State Level basketball player and a jump-rope athlete. Within cultural activities, she is a Carnatic music vocalist and a Tanjore Painting artist.

Poornachandran is a Peer Trainer for persons with spinal cord injury with more than two years of experience, earlier with The Ganga Foundation and currently with TTK Center for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development at IIT Madras. He has immense experience working as a trainer and coordinator for Touch Freedom - a virtual rehabilitation resource for persons with a spinal cord injury. He is also a Wheelchair Marathoner, Wheelchair Basketball player and won a Silver medal during the Tamil Nadu Para Powerlifting Championship 2018.

Lavanya joined R2D2 as a Project Associate in January 2023. She did M.Tech in Embedded Systems from VIT University, Vellore, after which she worked in the IT sector for around 4 years. Her experiences include working as a Technical Consultant at Central Research Laboratory (BEL), Bangalore and JRF in the Department of Bioengineering at CMC, Vellore. She is working on the project Plug and Train Robot (PLUTO). 

Jennifer a Peer Trainer for persons with spinal cord injury. Jennifer completed her Bachelor of Science from Queen Mary's College, Chennai. Currently, she works at the TTK Center for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development (R2D2) at IIT Madras. In addition to her role as a trainer, Jennifer is an accomplished wheelchair marathoner, wheelchair basketball player, and yoga practitioner. Before her current position, she gained five years of experience as a school physical education teacher. 

Aravind is a Ph.D. scholar in a joint program between IIT Madras and CMC Vellore; his research is focused on developing a robot for assessing and training hand functions.  He did his undergrad in Mechanical Engineering from VIT University Vellore and Masters in Bioengineering from CMC Vellore. His research interests include rehabilitation engineering, serious games, and neuromechanics.

Having been a high school basketball player and going through multiple ACL reconstruction surgeries has pushed him towards the field of rehabilitation engineering. His personal experiences and professional experiences of working with patients motivate him to develop accessible and affordable tools for rehabilitation. Aravind enjoys his weekend bicycle rides and spends his free time reading non-fiction books and rock tumbling.

Sachin Kumar is a research scholar at IIT Madras with interests in the fields of biomechanics, smart material and vibration isolation. 

An alumnus of the National Institute of Technology Agartala and Indian Institute of Technology Madras he did course work along with a project titled Design and development of MR damper for prosthetic knee application, under the guidance of Prof. Sujatha C and with help of Prof. Sujatha Srinivasan. He is presently working in characterization, mathematical modelling and designing of optimized MR damper for ankle application.

Apart from being a researcher, he loves cricket, chess and pets.

Neelakshi is a PhD scholar who joined  R2D2 Laboratory through the Three Institute PhD program of IIT Madras in July 2022. Along with our lab, she is collaborating with the Neurorehabilitation lab of Christian Medical College, Vellore. 

She graduated in Electrical Engineering.  Her keen interest in Biomedical and assistive technology led her to a master's in Biomedical Engineering from Jadavpur University,  Kolkata and then dived into  Brain Computer-Interface for her thesis work. To nurture her interest she also joined as an intern at the Institute of Neuroscience, Kolkata( IN-K)

Neelakshi likes to read thrillers. She is passionate about Indian Classical dance forms, especially Bharatnatyam and never leaves an opportunity to cultivate and explore it. 

Preethi is currently pursuing her PhD in Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Madras. Before that, she was working full-time for nearly 7 years at Moviebuff.com as a content writer.

She is the founder of Soulfree, a public charitable trust that is working to improve the quality-of-life of persons living with spinal cord injury in India, with a special focus on women and those living below the line of poverty. Currently, she is working to set up an Integrated Spinal Rehabilitation centre called INSPIRE in a 20,000 ft² facility at Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu.

As a person who has spent more than two decades in a body that is paralysed below the neck, she has an experiential understanding of the vital importance of assistive devices in enabling persons with impairments and empowering us by giving us access to improved quality-of-life and independence. 

Preethi leads a simple spiritual life at Thiruvannamalai, with her mother. She loves nature, music, sports and food, but most of all, the bliss of just being fully alive in the present moment.

He began his journey at IIT Madras as a M.Tech student and is currently a Ph.D scholar. His interest in robotics and the challenges in physical human-robot interaction was a driving force for him to work in the assistive technologies space. He did his graduation in Mechanical Engineering at Government College of Engineering, Tirunelveli.

He is currently working on an Arm Rehabilitation Robot (AREBO). The robot focuses on the rehabilitation of the shoulder joint with intensive game therapy. His research interests include biomechanics and physical Human-Robot Interaction(pHRI).

Prem is an avid reader of storybooks and enjoys traveling.