| Title: | Assistant Professor |
| Dept: | Health Sciences and Human Perform |
| Office: | PE B60 |
| Phone: | 216-687-4831 |
| Fax: | 216-687-5410 |
| Email: | d.a.wajda@csuohio.edu |
| Address: | 2121 Euclid Ave. PE B60, Cleveland, OH 44115 |
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| Education: | ||||||||
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Ph.D., Kinesiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2016
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2012 B.E., Mechanical Engineering, Youngstown State University, 2009 B.S., Applied Mathematics, Youngstown State University, 2009 | ||||||||
| Brief Bio: | ||
| Dr. Douglas Wajda is an Assistant Professor and member of the Health and Human Performance Department in the College of Education at CSU. He earned his Ph.D. in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Wajda teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in the exercise science program including, Kinesiology, Motor Learning, Biomechanics and Exercise testing.
Dr. Wajda's research interests focus on the study and quantification of human movement and human motor control. Primarily, Dr. Wajda has extensive experience investigating gait and balance issues in individuals with neurological impairments such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and stroke. Since arriving at CSU in Fall 2016, Dr. Wajda has become an active member in the human performance laboratory, adding research experience in other areas such as sport performance and physiology. Dr. Wajda actively incorporates research activities and experience in the courses he teaches. In addition to scholarly research activities, Dr. Wajda utilizes his background in Engineering and Mathematics to collaborate on projects with private corporations and federal agencies. This has led to research opportunities investigating fighter pilot physiology, microfluidic blood processing techniques, and medical device design and testing. Outside of CSU, Dr. Wajda enjoys spending time with his daughter, outdoor activities, maintaining an active lifestyle and following Cleveland Sports. Dr. Wajda is a native of Northeast Ohio who grew up in Trumbull County just North of Youngstown. | ||
| Honors and Awards: | ||
| 1. US Patent 20130043170, Co-Investigator, Microfluidic Ultrasonic Particle Separators with Engineered Node Locations and Geometries
2. US Patent 9579055, Co-Investigator, Apparatus for Non-Invasive Fetal Biosignal Acquisition 3. J. Douglas Faires Memorial Alumni Speaker Award, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH 4. AARP Innovation Award for ¿BalanceBetter: A smartphone app for measuring and tracking fall risk.¿ 5. Annual Technology Award, COEHS Technology Committee, Cleveland State University 6. Carol L. Chittenden Fellowship, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2015-2016, 2014-2015, 2013-2014 7. Graduate Travel Grant, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, UIUC, 2013 For travel to the Gait & Clinical Movement Society conference 8. Leslie H. Cochran University Scholars' full academic scholarship, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio, 2006-2009 | ||
| Research Interests: | ||
| 1. Biomechanics of human movement in neurological populations
2. Human motor control during dynamic movement tasks 3. Cognitive-motor interaction 4. Biomechanics of sport and exercise 5. Medical Device development and testing 6. Human physiological response 7. Human motor behavior quantification 8. Human motor learning techniques and fundamentals | ||
| Teaching Areas: | ||
| 1. Kinesiology and Biomechanics
2. Human Motor Development, Learning, Behavior and Control 3. Exercise Testing and Prescription | ||
| Professional Affiliations: | ||
| 1. Pi Mu Epsilon mathematics honor society
2. Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society 3. Gait and Clinical Movement Society 4. American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine | ||
| Professional Experience: | ||
| Research Assistant: Motor Control Research Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, January 2012-July 2016. (Research adviser: Dr. Jacob Sosnoff)
1. Led assessments for rehabilitation based clinical trials. 2. Interacted with research participants throughout study durations. 3. Assisted with grant formulation, review and submission. 4. Aided in the design of experimental protocols and exercise interventions. 5. Created Institutional Review Board submissions and amendments. 6. Managed a team of undergraduate research assistants. 7. Collected and analyzed outcome data. Graduate Engineering Intern: NASA Glenn, Cleveland, OH, May 2011-January 2012. (Supervisors: Dr. Daniel Dietrich, Mr. Aaron Rood). 1. Assisted in the development of a NAVAIR funded novel wearable sensor suite to continuously monitor fighter pilot physiological variables during flight. 2. Performed signal processing and parameter calculation of the various sensor outputs. 3. Conducted laboratory assessments of human performance under simulated high altitude conditions for sensor calibration and validation. 4. Developed custom MATLAB codes for data processing and analysis. 5. Designed sensor interfaces and equipment housings using CAD software for rapid prototyping and use in F-22 flight tests. SULI Intern: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, May 2009 ¿ September 2009. (Supervisor: Dr. Klint Rose). 1. Performed multifactorial physics simulations in COMSOL and MATLAB to develop and optimize microfluidic devices for biological sample preparation. 2. Developed data processing scripts for the organization and examination of output from large iteration simulation runs. 3. Analyzed the validity of computer simulations through bench-top testing of the microfluidic chips. Engineering Design Intern: Orbital Research Inc., Cleveland, OH, May 2006 ¿ May 2009. (Supervisor: Mr. Aaron Rood). 1. Provided 2D and 3D drawing support for research and development projects in the areas of medical devices, micro devices and aerospace projects. 2. Worked with outside contractors and customers to facilitate the development of a custom medical sensor. 3. Analyzed physiological ECG sensor data collected from multiple laboratory trials to facilitate FDA device approval. 4. Managed the redesign of a novel dry electrode for ECG recording in applications such as fetal heart rate monitoring. | ||
| Research Grants: | ||
| 2014/10/01-2017/09/30
RG 5057¿A¿4, National Multiple Sclerosis Society Sosnoff, Jacob (PI) Fall Risk and Incidence Reduction in Multiple Sclerosis This project examines home based exercise as a fall prevention strategy in older adults with MS. Role: PI of CSU site 2017/05/15 ¿ 2018/05/11 Center for Human-Machine Systems, Cleveland State University Richter, Hanz (PI) Study on Muscle Effort Addressing by Spatio-Temporal Impedance Modulation The proposed pilot study is concerned with human-robot interaction in an exercise and rehabilitation context. Role: Co-PI | ||