Bio:
Dr. Roger V. Gonzalez is the Founder and Executive Director of LEGS, LeTourneau Engineering Global Solutions (www.legsforall.com), Associate Vice President for Research, Professor of Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Biomedical Engineering Program at LeTourneau University.
He earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and his M.S. in biomedical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas-El Paso. Gonzalez was awarded the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Research Service Award (NRSA) for his postdoctoral work in neuromuscular control and musculoskeletal biomechanics on children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis while working as a research scientist at Northwestern University Medical School and at the premier Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. His scholarly efforts with students have focused on musculoskeletal modeling, dynamic modeling of human movement and neuromuscular control with applications to upper extremity neuroprosthesis and on the effects of knee ACL-deficiency on osteoarthritis. More than 100 publications detail his research endeavors, many of which are coauthored with undergraduate students.
Gonzalez has received five National Science Foundation (NSF) grants and three NIH grants, along with various support from foundations for his international humanitarian endeavors. He founded and currently serves as Executive Director of LeTourneau Empowering Global Solutions (LEGS), an university-wide international endeavor which started by developing low-cost, above-knee prosthetic devices for under-developed areas of the world. Gonzalez has worked with students in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Latin and South America on various international engineering research and humanitarian projects. Gonzalez also has mentored well over a 100 undergraduate engineering students, many of whom are now graduate students at top U.S. universities, such as Johns Hopkins, MIT, Stanford, Georgia Tech, and UT Austin. He also has been awarded the American Society of Engineering Educators Teaching Award, the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation Award as a Texas Piper Professor of 2008, and LeTourneau University's top research and scholarship award. He also serves as an engineering program evaluator for ABET (Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology), which is the sole U.S. entity for accrediting engineering programs throughout the United States. Gonzalez is also a Texas-licensed, professional engineer. Gonzalez has been married for over 20 years and has two children.
