Thread by @StevenHCollins

About a year ago I received tenure. It was an unusual time, and I didn’t properly thank the people who put me on this path and made my success possible. This is a long, personal thread to express my gratitude.

There are so many people I want to acknowledge. The thread is way too long. It mixes worlds. I’m not sure how to order things. I am sure I’ve missed people. A tweet seems trite compared to the acts of selflessness that benefitted me. But I wanted to say something anyhow.

I exist because of my wonderful parents, John and Lynn Collins. My childhood was shaped by their uncountable acts of selflessness. I was a difficult child. I have three brothers. Each year I marvel further at their effort in raising us, especially since having my own children.

My interests were unusual to my parents, but they encouraged me. I am very lucky to have had parents that could, and did, put me in camps and classes on fine arts and science, serve on the PTA, lead the scout troop, attend every meet and game, and send me to college.

My parents instilled in me the values that have shaped my life: hard work, honesty, and progress. They taught me that everyone deserves an equal opportunity. They gave me my first lessons in teaching, both by example and by direction with my younger brothers.

When I made life decisions that scared my parents, they stuck with me. They gave me guidance but let me make my own choices. They provided the safety net that caught me and gave me the second chances I needed. I am so grateful for my parents. Thank you, Mom and Dad.

My brothers also shaped my life in countless ways. They challenged me to do my best. They made me think deeply about the meaning of life. They let me teach, and taught me. They pushed me to balance my life. They made me feel safe to reach. Thank you, John, Dave, and Patrick.

My Grandma and Grandpa Collins also shaped my path. Grandpa taught me woodworking, and how to drive. Grandma taught me painting. They helped put my life in historical perspective and set my moral compass. Thank you, we miss you, Grandma and Grandpa.

My extended family also shaped my path. Grandpa Hartley and Grandma Al encouraged my interest in biology. Grandma P.J. and Grandpa Barnard taught me strategy games. The Springsteens, Staffords, Hartleys and Oxleys gave me many enriching experiences. Thank you, and we miss you.

I became an engineer because of an amazing high-school teacher: Mike Pierno. Mr. Pierno was a short, thick, gruff man who had previously been a union auto plant line worker. He said things like “Vic Tanny!” as a compliment and “no barnyard engineering” as a correction.

Mr. Pierno set up an excellent two-year sequence in automation and robotics. We solved logic problems and then built the resulting circuits in pneumatic cylinders, switch valves and quick-disconnect hoses on pegboards. It was amazing to see a sequence we’d developed play out.

Mr. Pierno got hardware donated from local plants, including an old Bridgeport, a CNC, and a 6-dof Fanuc, which we used in projects in our senior years. He was a force. He introduced me to mechanical engineering and changed my life. Thank you, Mr. Pierno, we miss you.

I was lucky to have many other amazing K-12 teachers. Mrs. Query in 2nd grade. Dr. Hammond Matthews. Mr. Phillips in 5th grade science. My middle-school art teacher. Mr. Ponchzoa in Calculus. Mr. Horshack and the FLEX team in high school. Thank you to all the teachers in my life.

Throughout high school, the leadership of my Boy Scout troop also had a profound influence. I learned so much about being an adult from Mr. Salz and Mr. Ezzell in particular. I would not have made it through middle or high school without Jonathan, Jacob and Michael. Thank you.

I was lucky to get an internship at Numatech my senior year, supervised by Richard Dalton. He started me transferring hand-drafted part drawings to Pro-E, but let me work up to creative design work. He treated me like part of the team. He encouraged me. Thank you, Mr. Dalton.

I became a professor because of an amazing research mentor: Andy Ruina (@andyruina). I met Andy in an undergraduate dynamics course and worked in his lab for a few years, and he’s been a mentor and a favorite senior colleague ever since. I owe him so much.

I became a researcher because Andy Ruina showed a cool robot video in class. It depicted an early prototype of this passive-dynamic walking robot. Andy said it wasn’t yet robust. The movements were captivating, and I wanted to try to make it better:

When I asked, Andy agreed to let me join his lab. What I didn’t know was that, in office hours in a prior course, Andy had overheard students complaining about this student who was always interrupting lecture to ask questions: Steve Collins. He thought: my kind of student.

Andy asked me to apply for a small REU grant to support myself, which I did. We met a few times to talk about how to make the robot more robust. Then Andy went to Finland, as he did every summer. This is when I first really met my people: graduate students.

In the summer of 2000, I got to know the members of the Ruina Lab: Mike Coleman, Mario Gomes, Dave Cabrera, Manoj Srinivasan (@manojmovement), and, later, Sam Walcott. They were endlessly patient. They were my de facto advisors that summer. I grew so much from their mentorship.

We would hang out in the lab at all hours. Most of the time we would work on our research projects, but a lot of the time we would just hang out and talk. A lot of the talk was about zany research ideas. I asked a lot of questions. We argued about minutia. I learned so, so much.

I did not realize at the time just how generous and patient these graduate students were. I was an impetuous undergrad, asking endless questions, and it would have been understandable for them to blow me off. Instead, they welcomed me as an apprentice. It changed my life.

Mike Coleman taught me about dynamic simulation and changed my understanding of stability. He gave me perspective on grad school, and on life. He emphasized the connections between art and science. He kept us laughing. Thank you, Mike.

Mario Gomes gave me a practicum in mechanical design. He introduced me to McMaster-Carr and Digi-Key, which were enormous tomes at the time. He emphasized how engineering could advance environmental causes. Thank you, Mario.

Dave Cabrera taught me about optimization and Matlab. He taught me about the mechanics of boxing and the connections between Seinfeld and lab life. He held our crew together. He was a good man. Thank you, Dave, we miss you.

Sam Walcott taught me about muscle mechanics and gave me a window into pure biology. He showed me how to be a nerd in jock’s clothing. He taught me about the long game in academia. His wit and can-do attitude kept us striving. Thank you, Sam.

Manoj Srinivasan (@manojmovement) taught me about optimization, collocation methods, and pure math. He shared his love of simply understanding. He was a model of patience and kindness in a mentor. Years later, as an assistant professor, he would again mentor me.

Manoj schooled me in grants writing and navigating the world of an assistant professor. His thoughts on optimizing prostheses, which we proposed in an un-funded grant, strongly influenced my lab’s eventual work on human-in-the-loop optimization. Thank you, Manoj.

That summer in Andy’s lab I hacked away, tried lots of things, and eventually found something that made the robot more robust (adding arms). Andy suggested we write a paper on the design. He asked me to read some papers from IJRR and try to write about my project in that style.

My first attempt at this paper was comical. It began, more or less, “Since the dawn of time…”. It referenced da Vinci. It was organized chronologically and consisted mostly of lore. You can find it here: drive.google.com/file/d/1Wp-U2c…

I sent this first draft to Andy in Finland. He replied with an email that said, simply, “Expand on this.” Attached was the draft, with all the text changed to strike-through font, save for one sentence, which said, in effect, “we designed and built a passive-dynamic robot…”

At the time, I was infuriated! In retrospect, this was a hilarious response. Andy then wrote an excellent essay on writing for beginner technical writers, which I now share with my students: ruina.tam.cornell.edu/research/joini…
Here is my own, shorter, version: biomechatronics.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/…

As an undergrad, Andy expected me to put in some grunt work. For example, I transferred all the lab VHS video to digital files and sorted the big boxes of left-over fasteners. He taught me that, to do the things you love, you have to put in a lot of menial work.

And there was a lot of video! Andy had a rule: Whenever the robot moves, the tape rolls. You never know when the robot will do something interesting, good or bad, and you need to be able to review it, or present it, later. We have this same rule in my lab now.

Over the next few years Andy and I worked on a minimally powered passive-dynamic walking robot. I would follow him on his walks between classes or to his house to get time to talk. We would work at all hours. He was endlessly available. He was as much parent as professor.

At our wedding years later, Andy gave Lisa and I the best advice we received: Weather every storm. We have often thought back on this advice. There are so many little bits of spot-on wisdom like this that I’ve inherited from Andy.

I am lucky to have met Andy Ruina. He instilled in me a love of classical mechanics. He taught me how to apply mechanics to real-world design. He showed me it was OK to be disagreeable in pursuit of truth. He taught me the value of good teaching and mentoring. Thank you, Andy.

Another great influence was Marjolein van der Meulen (@mchvdm). Prof. van der Meulen taught a wonderful intro course on mechanical design. She introduced me to CAD and project-based courses. I’ll never forget her bold strain gage torque wrench project; a bit sits on my desk now.

Prof. van der Meulen gave me my first experience in teaching, inviting me to give a few guest lectures on IronCAD. And she gave the precocious amongst us insights into the realities of life of an Assistant Professor. She was an inspiration. Thank you, Prof. van der Meulen.

Francisco Valero-Cuevas (@ValeroLab) also shaped my Cornell experience. He pushed me to take rigorous courses as my faculty advisor. He co-led the Locomotion Seminar with Andy, my first experience with wonder of The Salon. He taught me about dexterity. Thank you, Francisco.

I was privileged to learn from many others at Cornell, including graduate students Madhu Venkadesan (@v_madhu), Veronica Santos, Laurel Kuxhaus (@LaurelKuxhaus), and Pranav Bhounsule (@pranavab47). Thank you for exposing me to new research ideas and inspiring me to pursue a PhD.

In my last summer as an undergraduate, Jerry Pratt (@jerryepratt) gave me my first exposure to exoskeletons and startups. He took me on as an intern at Yobotics and treated me like a founder. He gave me real creative problems to solve. He was a great supervisor.

When I started at Yobotics, it was in a run-down building. It burned down mid-summer. We moved to a nice space in Southie. It burned through cash. We snuck onto campus for late-night machining. We used terms like ‘angel investor’ and ‘critical path’. We dissed our competitors.

Jerry had me work on the design of an exoskeleton for lower-limb weakness. The first plan was to support the pelvis directly, but everything we tried was awful (loss of sensation in minutes). This was my first lesson in exoskeletons: interfacing with the body is difficult.

We shifted to a powered brace approach, and the challenge became understanding intention. The exoskeleton felt like it helped in simple weight-support tasks, but it felt like it impeded walking. This was my second lesson in exoskeletons: it’s much easier to harm than help.

Years later, this experience would also help me to come to the realization that we were developing exoskeletons all wrong – that our approach should be driven by human testing, not hardware. This was an important first flop that affected me profoundly, once I had digested it.

Jerry also showed me how to have fun while pushing hard. I can’t recall all the silliness, but I still think back on his early retirement plan: $1M and an arcade. And just the other day he sent an RSVP to our wedding… 15 years too late. Song request: Lady Gaga, Stupid Love.

Jerry Pratt made me question the academic path, in a good way. He made me think hard about how to get technologies out into the world to make a real impact for people. He gave me important experiences that shaped my career in unexpected ways for years to come. Thank you, Jerry.

Before research, I had done poorly in college. I had pledged a fraternity. I chose the wrong major. I nearly failed out. What saved me? Taking a semester off. I worked as a ski instructor, greens mower, and line cook in Northern Michigan. Then I was dying to go back.

Before my LOA, I had thought of college as something I just had to do. After, I realized it was something I was amazingly lucky to be able to do. And I really missed it; I was reading Physics texts for fun by the end. When I came back, I knew why I was there and went for it.

I’m grateful to have had the chance to take a semester off during college. I was lucky to have had parents who could cover my full tuition, which allowed for a leave, and family who could have helped me if I had gotten in real financial trouble, which made me feel safe to try.

These people taught me that:
- Fun, useless robots inspire students, who then do useful things.
- Teachers really can change people’s lives
- Asking questions is a superpower.
- Taking time off can save you.
- Pursue learning, not grades.
- You *can* do it!

I am grateful for having Art Kuo as my PhD advisor; he was just what I needed. Art brought together an exceptional group of people and created the conditions for our intellectual development. He held us to high standards. He challenged us. Many of us went on to become faculty.

From Art I learned gait biomechanics, dynamical simulation, and the beauty of linear algebra. I learned how to produce polished text and figures. I learned how to give concise, informative presentations. I learned how to write grant proposals, including the one that supported me.

Art gave me my best experiences with The Salon. He brought our lab together with Dan Ferris and Brent Gillespie’s groups for a weekly multi-group meeting, in what became a formative dialog for many of us. He encouraged us to engage deeply with each other’s ideas.

Art led the formation of Dynamic Walking (@DynamicWalking) to bring The Salon to our field. I am incredibly grateful for this conference. It created space for real cross-disciplinary discussion. It led to new collaborations. It helped us keep in touch. I’ve missed in-person DW.

Art practiced benign neglect. His withdrawal forced us to take responsibility for our own progress and growth. I hated this at the time, but it made me more independent and self-reliant. In part because of Art’s style, I was ready to chart my own course when I became faculty.

Art loved to point out and deflate the b.s. aspects of academia. He pointed out science salesmanship and took it to farcical conclusions. He taught us tricks for handling nuisance features of the bureaucracy. His message was: don’t get distracted from what really matters.

In Art’s lab, I had my primary flop in device design. We made a prosthesis based on the simplest walking model. It made walking harder. It couldn’t be changed easily. My later work on emulation and optimization are a direct reaction; if we can’t predict, we should iterate faster.

Art Kuo spent more time on my intellectual development than anyone else in my career. While I did not always appreciate it at the time, I know I would not be as good at science or scientific communication without his training. Each year I appreciate it more. Thank you, Art.

I’m thankful to also have had Dan Ferris (@Ferris_vball) as an advisor during my PhD. Dan helped round out my perspectives on advising and conducting research. I learned from him the complexity and uncertainty of human physiology, how to design gait studies, and powered orthoses.

Dan opened his lab to all of Art’s students for our biomechanics studies. There I had my first exposure to motion capture and gap filling, emg and sophisticated real-time control, indirect calorimetry and saliva traps, ground-embedded force plates and ground water. It was great.

Part of how I learned from Dan was by participating in his lab’s experiments. Once, while I was walking for a proportional EMG study, he came over and started chatting, during the collection! It turns out he was doing a side study on distraction and variability.

We wanted an instrumented treadmill for Dan’s space. A few of us built a custom one, and it was a disaster. It cost $100k, resonated at 20 Hz, and shed Teflon like mad. We called it the ‘snow machine’. Dan graciously took it in stride, then bought a Bertec.

Dan’s neuromechanics course was a formative experience. It gave me new perspectives on the field, taught me how to formally survey the literature, and showed me how to write specific aims. I benefitted greatly from Dan Ferris’ patience and teaching. Thank you, Dan.

There were many other great faculty that made my PhD experience at Michigan a good one. Brent Gillespie in particular let me use his lab, taught me new tricks in mechanical design, and gave me new perspectives on mentorship. Thank you, Brent.

I was lucky to have gone to graduate school with an incredible cohort of PhD students and postdocs. They cared. They constantly thought about science. They went deep. They were open to teach and learn. They made every gathering interesting. They made grad school rewarding.

I was so lucky to meet Greg Sawicki (@gregory_sawicki) as a PhD student. Greg influenced my life in countless ways. We were like a buddy cop duo -- we thought better together. We dreamt up many of the projects we would later pursue as faculty. I learned so much from him.

Greg was always talking science. Always. This was awesome. Having Greg at the party meant we would all spend hours exchanging wild dreams about what we might learn about muscles, or what exoskeletons might someday do to help people. Is it even possible!? That was the headspace.

Greg showed me the ropes on biomechanics data collections. He shared his space and equipment. He enrolled me in his studies, where I got to experience powered ankle orthoses and proportional EMG control. He put in a good word. He was patient with my questions and diatribes.

Late in our PhD studies, when we both really needed to focus on writing, Greg came up with the inspired idea of Docstock. We would set up in Espresso Royale early and just write all day. Felix would drop by. Lisa even made some artwork for it. We finished well.

Over the years, Greg has been an amazing colleague. We still get in some of that wild daydreaming. We’ve done some cool work together, including the unpowered exoskeleton project he led. I keep learning from him. I’m lucky to have him as a friend and colleague. Thank you, Greg.

I am grateful to have gone to graduate school with Felix Huang (@flippervortices). Felix was like a patient older brother. He taught me about haptics and motor control. Late nights in the lab he delved deep into philosophical discussions on the purposes of science and life.

I’ll never forget the first time Felix and I met. He was standing in line outside the room where our small neuromechanics meeting was to be held (Helen was presenting). The way he thought, and gestured, was so surprising and interesting that I knew I would learn a lot from him.

Felix helped build our community. He threw great parties (texture was legendary). He inspired our introverted cohort to get out together. At those parties, we had some of our best science conversations. I learned so much from Felix and through his influence. Thank you, Felix.

I am grateful to have gone to graduate school with Keith Gordon (@biomech_keith). Keith was like an older brother, dispensing wisdom through wry humor. He taught me how to collect and analyze motion capture data and introduced me to clinical orthosis fabrication.

Keith ran some hilarious and very involved pranks. If you ever get the chance, you should ask him to tell you the stories of Friction Man, and The Phantom Volleyball Player – they are worth it. Keith taught us how to take things seriously while having fun. Thank you, Keith.

I was lucky to go to grad school with Peter Adamczyk (@adamczyk_peter). We co-founded a company and Peter took on all the hard parts. We had long conversations about the philosophy of science and its role in a moral life. He gave me perspective on work-life balance.

Peter was the first to suggest the “superfoot” idea, which would become the emulator approach now central to my lab’s research. He was endlessly sincere and kind. He made up limericks nearly on the spot. Over the years he’s continued to be a great collaborator. Thank you, Peter.

I was lucky to go to grad school with Karl Zelik (@KarlZelik). He was like a prodigy younger brother, keeping me on my toes. He led our energy-recycling prosthesis study. On long trips to Seattle, we talked science, careers and strategy. He taught me soft tissue’s role in gait.

Over the years Karl has been a generous collaborator, bringing me in on cool projects. He took the time to school me on back exosuits, spinout companies, and Twitter. Our first fall in Pittsburgh, he welcomed us to Thanksgiving with his family. It meant a lot. Thank you, Karl.

I am grateful for going to graduate school with Antoinette Domingo (@antdom). She taught me new ways of thinking about balance control, and how to test it. She taught me about the clinical side of gait research. She taught me to be a better listener. Thank you, Antoinette.

I was lucky to go to graduate school with Shawn O’Connor. He taught me about vision and motor control, armed only with a shower curtain. Later, he blew my mind with his device to control blood gas concentrations to study their role in energy-cost minimization.

Shawn’s stories were a reason to hang with the lab after hours. If you get a chance, ask him about the prime rib, the ghost pepper, and the Blastotron 3000. Thank you, Shawn. When we moved to Stanford, Shawn and Antoinette came by and helped us feel at home. Thank you, you two.

I’m grateful to have been a grad student with Jesse Dean (@JesseCDean). He taught me how biarticular muscles and the trunk can affect gait dynamics. He demonstrated a different approach to the academic life. I’ve learned so much from his research over the years. Thank you, Jesse.

I was lucky to know Helen Huang (@HelenJHuang) in grad school. She taught me how the arms and legs are coupled, and how reaching can be shaped by energetics just as walking can. She set an example in perseverance. She put in a good word with Lisa. Thank you, Helen.

I am grateful for going to graduate school with Anne Simon. She taught me the importance of gait symmetry to patients, and introduced the idea of using effort to shape behavior. I’ve learned so much from her work at RIC. She is a model of perseverance. Thank you, Annie.

I’m glad to have gone to graduate school with Paul Griffiths. He taught me the importance of bandwidth in the rendering of virtual environments, made me question what shared control meant, and made the case for Laplace. His geeky energy was contagious. Thank you, Paul.

I’m grateful for having gone to grad school with Joaquin Anguera. He taught me about sensorimotor adaptation and, later, the power of video games for training. He was lightning on the basketball court. He set an amazing example of positivity. Thank you, Joaquin.

I was lucky to know Monica Daley (@birdBiomech) as a grad student. Monica taught me about comparative biology and the temporal organization of disturbance response. Her enthusiasm for (animal) research was contagious. She gave me my first real insights into life as a postdoc.

Monica was inspiring. She thought big. She organized the happy hours that led to some of our best science discussions. She taught us how to be better colleagues to female researchers. In the years since, her influence has made Dynamic Walking bigger and better. Thank you, Monica.

So many others at Michigan taught me and inspired me to pursue an academic career. Jiro Doke, who taught me Matlab (dissert.m) and the grad program at U of M. Brian Trease, who taught me flexures and goofball antics. Steve Cain, who showed me the challenges of conscious control.

Kari Danek, who made me think about magnets and motor control. Catherine Kinnaird, who taught me about springy orthoses and hopping mechanics. Pei-Chun Kao, who challenged my notions of the goals of the nervous system. John Rebula, who schooled me on inverse optimal control.

Cara Lewis (@ProfCaraLewis), who argued the clinical perspective persuasively. Kate Havens (@KateHavens), who, as an undergrad, reminded me how lucky we were to be researchers. Mike Cherry, whose project demonstrated how challenging augmentation can be.

Jeremy Brown (@Dr_Jdelaine), who taught me the importance of haptic feedback in teleoperation.
Alaa Ahmed (@AlayaAAhmed), who taught me about error detection and reaching. Dan Goble (@docgoble), who taught me about aging and motor control. Christine Walsh, who inspired.

Dan Koditschek (@kodlab), who helped convince me to go to U of M and challenged me to build my mathematics foundations. Jessy Grizzle, who taught me robotics and challenged me to improve my control foundations. Pierre Kabamba who taught me linear algebra.

James Ashton-Miller, who generously shared space with us and gave me new perspectives on biomechanics. Nadine Sarter, who taught us an amazing course on human factors engineering. And a slew of other fantastic faculty at the University of Michigan.

I would not have pursued an academic career without the inspiration and material help from all these amazing colleagues and teachers, and many others. Thank you for making graduate school such a transformative experience. I am so grateful for the ways you shaped my life.

During grad school, I had the good fortune to collaborate with the Seattle VA Hospital, where I saw my first tests among participants with amputation. I learned so much there from Glenn Klute, David Morgenroth, Michael Orendurff, Joe Cziernecki, Ava Segal and others. Thank you.

During graduate school, I met the most important person in my life: my spouse Lisa Lau. She has been my rock for more than 15 years. She is a model of resilience. She keeps me socially connected. She is an incredible mother to our children. I could not be luckier.

Lisa graduated soon after we met. She turned down a job in Apple’s design group to stay with me while I finished my PhD. She worked a string of mediocre jobs to support us. When we had our first child, she sold off her yoga studio to take care of him. I am forever in her debt.

Lisa has been the first reviewer of the abstracts of my best papers and the specific aims of all my grant proposals. She has listened to countless versions of conference presentations and job talks. Where my communication has been accessible, Lisa deserves much of the credit.

I am certain that I could not have made tenure without Lisa. Life as an assistant professor is like living on the gulf in hurricane season. Because of Lisa, we weathered every storm. Thank you, Lisa.

I was very lucky to have Martijn Wisse as a postdoctoral supervisor at TU Delft. He was an amazing supervisor: optimized, organized and energetic. He taught me the EE side of robotics, industry collaborations, and building an organization. He gave me the space to collaborate.

When we arrived, Martijn helped us feel at home in Nederland, including helping us move when our apt turned out to be over a nightclub. When we left, he gave me the gift of letting my last study go so I could focus on getting started as a new faculty member. Thank you, Martijn.

My postdoc was enriched by some truly amazing collaborators in the Netherlands. Marjolein van der Krogt (@Marjoleinvdk) showed me the VU and taught me about Cerebral Palsy. Years later, she brought me into the ESMAC and SMALLL communities. Thank you, Marjolein.

Han Houdijk (@HanHoudijk) showed me Heliomare and taught me about clinical treatment of gait disorders. We brainstormed ways of isolating the contributions of lateral stabilization and arm swing, which have influenced several studies in my lab. Thank you, Han.

Sjoerd Bruijn (@sjoerdmb) taught me about balance. We spent many hours arguing about system descriptions, control decompositions and balance metrics. Those discussions strongly shaped my thinking and led to later studies. Thank you, Sjoerd.

I was lucky to have interactions with many other Dutch researchers during my postdoc that helped make me a better professor, including Herman van der Kooij, Heike Vallery, Daan Bregman, Erik Schuitema, Jaap Harlaar, Wietse van Dijk, and Yutaro Takahashi. Thank you.

I’ve been very lucky to have Max Donelan (@maxdonelan) as a colleague and mentor for about fifteen years. Max has been like an older academic sibling, challenging me to live up to my potential. He’s one of the most interesting, deep thinkers I know. I’ve learned so much from him.

Max brought me in to co-organize Dynamic Walking in 2009, an experience that was both intellectually deepening and socially rewarding (‘Eigen!’). He brought me in to consult on mechanical design in the early days of Bionic Power, giving me a glimpse into a successful startup.

From coffee breaks to surfing breaks, I’ve learned so much from conversations with Max. He deepened my understanding of motor control, metabolism, and experimental design, and strongly influenced my lab’s human-in-the-loop optimization work. Thank you, Max.

I’ve also been lucky to have learned from Max’s students over the years, including Jess Selinger, Sabrina Abram, Heather More, Mark Snaterse, Jeremy Wong, and Surabhi Simha. Thank you all for your positive influence on myself and my lab over the years!

As junior faculty at Carnegie Mellon, I had the great fortune to be part of an amazing group of collaborators. My lab’s success owes in part to the influence of this remarkable crew.

I was incredibly lucky to have Chris Atkeson (@ChrisAtkeson) as a mentor when I first started as a professor at Carnegie Mellon. Chris is one of the most interesting, out-of-the-box thinkers I’ve met. His ultra-light-touch style of advising was exactly what I needed.

Most of my interactions with Chris came through the Biped Seminar that we co-organized. Chris was the perfect foil to the low-key incrementalism that can creep into an engineering lab; he was boisterous, funny, optimistic, and unafraid to speculate wildly. I miss his energy.

Chris was a psychology major, and it showed in the way he influenced us. He was subtle. He didn’t try to overwhelm a person’s natural inclinations. Instead, he studied us, and then often gave just the nudge that would lead to more interesting research. He is a true guru.

For example, when I received tenure, Chris mentioned that he had just learned of the curious behavior of the sea squirt: it starts its life mobile, then eventually finds a good spot to permanently settle down, at which point it eats its own brain. No reason ;-).

Chris gave me great advice at every stage of my faculty career, from applications through my move to Stanford. He was altruistic and incredibly insightful. I don’t think I could have navigated this landscape without his help, and owe him much in getting tenure. Thank you, Chris.

I was lucky to be colleagues with Hartmut Geyer as an Assistant Professor at CMU. Hartmut shared his mocap space with us. He anchored the Biped Seminar, balancing Chris’ wild ambitions. He taught me reflexes and musculoskeletal simulations. He got us funding. Thank you, Hartmut.

I was lucky to collaborate with Gelsy Torres-Oviedo (@gelsyto) while in Pittsburgh. Gelsy taught me about stroke and motor learning. She brought clinical perspectives to the Biped Seminar. She let us join her stroke symmetry study, which strongly influenced me. Thank you, Gelsy.

These great collaborators are also great friends. Hartmut and Athicha, Gelsy and Gianluca and Lisa and I spent many a fun night talking politics, playing card games, and arguing cinema, across cultural angles. It made Pittsburgh awesome. We have missed you so much since moving!

I was fortunate to have Koushil Sreenath as a colleague at Carnegie Mellon. He taught me control theory, patiently keeping it simple. He co-advised Katie. He brought an ultra-dry, mathy humour to the Biped Seminar. He helped get us funded. Thank you, Koushil.

I was also lucky to collaborate with Carmel Majidi (@SoftMachinesLab). He taught me about elasticity and electrostatics. He partnered with me on the electroadhesive clutch, which led to ESTAT, and drives research in my lab today. He was funny and sharp. Thank you, Carmel.

I owe my success at Carnegie Mellon to the support of many other faculty as well, including Allen Robinson, who was a fantastic chair, Paul Seif, who taught me to teach, Bill Messner, my faculty mentor, Alan McGaughey, the role model colleague, …

Venkat Viswanathan (@venkvis), who taught me Twitter, Doug Weber (@dougweberlab), who helped me write my first big proposal, and Metin Sitti (@metin_sitti), Shawn Litster (@shawnlitster), Jon Malen, Phil LeDuc, J Michalek, Reeja Jayan, Yoed Rabin, …

Kenji Shimada, Shi-Chune Yao, Jim Garrett, Adam Feinberg, Matt Mason, Ralph Hollis, Aaron Johnson, Stelian Coros, and Katsu Yamane, all of whom acted as patient mentors and collaborators, or simply lent a good vibe that kept me going along the way. Thank you all.

While I was the one to receive tenure, the people most responsible for work evaluated for my tenure case were my students and postdocs. I have had exceptionally good fortune in working with an incredible team over the years, and I owe them all a debt of gratitude.

I was lucky to have Josh Caputo (@joshcaputo) as my first PhD student. Josh was brilliant and relentless, a whiz at electromechanical design. He made the superfoot idea real. He brought it to the world with @humotech. He led within the team. Thank you, Josh, our first waffle.

I was lucky to have Rachel Jackson as one of my first PhD students. Rachel was deliberate and thoughtful. She taught me OpenSim. She taught the lab to write. She started the ball chair craze. She’s made us proud at Stanford, X, and Apple. Thank you, Rachel.

I was lucky to have Myunghee Kim (@MyungheeKim19) as one of my first PhD students. She brought mad range, from dynamics to control to hardware, with industrial management skills to boot. She led with aplomb. She made us proud at Harvard and UIC. Thank you, Myunghee.

I was lucky to have Juanjuan Zhang as one of my first PhD students. JJ taught me adaptive control. She invented the iterative learning and optimization techniques we now use in every project. She brought smart crazy to our lab meetings. She does us proud at Nankai. Thank you, JJ.

I was lucky to have Kirby Ann Witte as one of my early PhD students. Kirby was an incredible designer. She made our exoskeletons best in class. She thought outside the box and made us all more creative. She was a good friend. She aced it at Intuitive and ESTAT. Thank you, Kirby.

I was lucky to have Stuart Diller (@StuartDiller) as one of my early PhD students. Stuart took a risk and discovered an amazing electroadhesive clutch. He kept it fun; two-time ugly sweater champ! He was in it for the right reasons. He makes us proud at ESTAT. Thank you, Stuart.

I was lucky to have Vince Chiu as one of my PhD students. Vince is an ace electromechanical engineer. He made our most ambitious prosthesis: tripod. He finished the fatigue tests. He consulted on every design. He brought the heat. He makes us proud at Tortuga. Thank you, Vince.

I was lucky to have Katie Poggensee (@klpoggensee) as a PhD student. Katie took on our most ambitious experiment and landed a huge result. She taught us all statistics. She bridged kines and robotics. I know she will do us all proud at Delft, and beyond. Thank you, Katie.

I was lucky to have Patrick Franks (@p_franks_) as a PhD student. Patrick is an all-rounder and a model of persistence; he logged hundreds of exo hours and made breakthroughs in hip-knee-ankle assistance. He made us love the [air claw]. He makes us proud at X. Thank you, Patrick.

I was lucky to have Gwen Bryan (@g_m_bryan) as a PhD student. Gwen is an amazing designer and mentor. She made BiLLEE shine, and used it to make breakthroughs. She persisted. She brought the paint. She is making us proud at IHMC. Thank you, Gwen.

I’ve been lucky to have Guan Rong Tan (@GuanRongTan) as a PhD student. Rong is an amazing designer and collaborator. She led Bump’em, the best open-source perturbation system. She taught the lab how to go untethered. She’s the kiddos’ fave and makes lab time fun. Thank you, Rong.

I’ve been lucky to have Thu Nguyen as a PhD student. Thu led our fist studies among individuals with chronic stroke and taught us about the challenges and opportunities in this population. She persists. She brings East Coast, and the wine. Thank you, Thu.

I was lucky to have Philippe Malcolm as a visiting postdoc. Philippe showed us how much timing matters. He brought us in on his projects in Ghent. He made us proud at Harvard and makes us proud at UNO. He’s been a good colleague. Thank you, Philippe.

I was lucky to have Pieter Fiers as a postdoc. Pieter reconfigured our ankle exoskeletons for running, plowed through the technical hurdles, and made the experiment happen. He brought Kines and Benelux sensibilities to the lab. He made us laugh. Thank you, Pieter.

I was lucky to have Sasha Voloshina (@asvoloshina) as a postdoc. Sasha was the consummate mentor, helping every student with their experimental hardware. She showed us the limits of assisting the sound limb. She got it done. She makes us proud at UC Irvine. Thank you, Sasha.

I was lucky to have Soongeun Cha as a lab tech for a few years at Carnegie Mellon. Soongeun was a maestro of electronics hardware. He helped build the first emulator. He gave good advice to everyone in the lab. Thank you, Soongeun.

I was also lucky to work with many amazing Master’s and undergraduate students at Carnegie Mellon who propelled our research, including Michiel Plooij, who made the wild tether and didn’t burn the house down, Roberto Quesada, who collected our first amputee biomechanics dataset,

Mailing Wu, who got them to wear the ugly shoes and always kept us laughing, Tianyao Chen (@chentianyao) who brought new design perspectives and makes us proud at Humotech, Tianjian Chen, who made the two-dof experiments happen,

Robert Peuchen, who helped make BiLLEE and took a great photo, Blair Emanuel, who made the alpha version of Bump’em, Tyler Del Sesto, who tripped them before it was cool, and Evan Dvorak, who made strong foot and showed that the abscissa didn’t matter.

Many other great students influenced our group at Carnegie Mellon, including Ruta Desai, Siyuan Feng, Kathryn Gebreth, Weiwei Huang, Will Martin, Uma Nagarajan, Alex Schepelmann, Eric Whitman, Peter Whitney, Albert Wu, Ben X, Sid Sanan, Bowei Tang, Nitish Thatte, …

Jonathan Hurst, James Gabriel, Kyle Rawding, Biju Obi, Andreas Fatschel, Hannah Lyness, Faith Quist, Mike Spinelli, Lizmarie Comenencia-Ortiz, Roberto Jaime, Ruthika, Jayon Wang, Rob Wojno, Jon Boerner, and Kevin Wang. Thank you.

I am grateful for having the opportunity to teach some truly outstanding undergraduate students at Carnegie Mellon. They tried wild new course formats and let me know how to make them better. They engaged. Their notes buoyed me. They gave me an award, and it mattered. Thank you.

When I joined Stanford as an untenured Associate Professor, I was fortunate to have fantastic mentors and colleagues who helped me to navigate the move, learn the new institution, start new projects, and keep my sanity during what turned out to be a wild four years.

I am grateful to have Scott Delp (@StanfordNMBL) as a colleague. Scott helped get us here. He brought me in on several great projects. He helped us get funded. He shared his space, and his experience, and his positivity. He was patient and thoughtful. Thank you, Scott.

I am grateful to have Ellen Kuhl (@ln2cool) as a colleague and chair. Ellen led the search that brought us here. She showed me how to keep it cool in a world of turbo. She had the steadiest hands through the worst of the pandemic. She leads by example. Thank you, Ellen.

I am grateful to have Allison Okamura as a colleague. Allison helped me make the decision to come to Stanford. She has been an incredible collaborator and co-advisor, and I’ve learned so much from her in the past few years. I couldn’t have made it without her. Thank you, Allison.

I’m lucky to have Wendy Gu (@GuLabStanford) as a colleague and friend. We joined at the same time and shared notes. She teaches me nano. She reminded me how cool it is to be a prof. We couldn’t have made it through the pandemic without her and her family. Thank you, Wendy.

I’m grateful to have Mark Cutkosky as a colleague. Mark brought me in to co-teach ME 112, the big one. He taught me a new philosophy. He has been a role model for mentorship. He taught me about design at Stanford helped me navigate the first search. Thank you, Mark.

On the tenure track, I’ve been lucky to find myself among colleagues who rooted for my success and lent a helping hand: Ron Hanson, my co-chair, who taught me how to lead a good search; Bernie Roth (@bernie_roth), who taught the extreme section and tried the exoskeletons;

Ken Goodson, who was a great Chair and helped us navigate the department early on; Persis Drell, who gave us the resources to get started; Jennifer Widom, who was an amazing Dean through the pandemic, stepped in with great advice, and made running the Dish more fun;

Ovi Chaudhuri (@theChaudhurilab) and Mattias Ihme, who led a great search; John Eaton, who helped me learn to teach under pressure; Elliott Hawkes, who led the runner band; Mykel Kochenderfer (@aiprof_mykel), who supported Pat and teaches me learning of models;

The @stanfordPRL team, Dave Beach, Marlo Kohn, Dan Somen, and Craig Milroy, who were amazing partners in redesigning the design and manufacturing curriculum, helped teach my students how to make, and took up the P3D mantle; Brian Carilli, who designed an amazing lab for us;

The Human-Robot Salon crew, Monroe Kennedy (@monroe_kennedy3), Sean Follmer (@dSeanMustard), and Renee Zhao (@ReneeZhao13), who teach me new things about planning, HRI, and materials every time we talk;

The Thursday Night Crew, Emma Brunskill (@EmmaBrunskill), Wendy Gu (@GuLabStanford), Dave Camarillo, Karen Liu, Surya Ganguli (@SuryaGanguli) and families, who have been an amazing network, a much-needed support group, and great friends;

And all the other faculty in Mechanical Engineering, the School of Engineering, and across Stanford that I've worked with. Thank you all for your leadership, support, mentorship, collegiality, and friendship. I could not have made tenure without you.

While I was the one to receive tenure, the research that most directly led to this decision was performed by an amazing group of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. I absolutely could not have made it without you. Thank you.

I’ve been lucky to have Julia Butterfield (@J_K_Butterfield) as a PhD student. Julia is an incredible dynamicist. I’ve learned so much from her split-belt modeling, and from being her guinea pig. She represents on the Ultimate field. Thank you, Julia.

I’ve been lucky to have Michael Raitor (@MichaelRaitor) as a PhD student. Michael helped make Bump’em and Exo51 happen. He teaches me about balance. He always has good advice for the team. Master of ear protection, and my unexpected surf buddy. Thank you, Michael.

I’ve been lucky to have Erez Krimsky as a PhD student. He is an incredible mechatronics engineer, and has led our most ambitious systems design project on energy-recycling actuators. He always has clever ideas for the team, and takes the time to work them out. Thank you, Erez.

I’ve been lucky to co-advise Delaney Miller with Scott Delp. Delaney led our most thorough running study, and represented. She teaches me about knee loading, and how to reduce it. She brought the lab together for events, and brought the lab swag. Thank you, Delaney.

I was lucky to co-advise Cara Welker (@welker_cara) with Allison Okamura. Cara taught me about upper extremity exoskeletons, haptics, and just-noticeable differences. She published the negative HILO result. She makes us proud at Michigan, and Boulder. Thank you, Cara.

I’ve been lucky to co-advise Keenon Werling (@KeenonWerling) with Karen Liu. Keenon is an amazing programmer. He teaches me the power and perils of ML. He convinced me to go for the big data set. He has given us all a clear goal. He asks good questions. Thank you, Keenon.

I’ve been lucky to co-advise Patrick Slade (@pjslade) with Mykel Kochenderfer. Pat is an incredible roboticist. He convinced me that ML has real value. He went for the big result, and landed it (stay tuned). His earnest intellect pulls us all forward. Thank you, Pat.

I’ve been lucky to have Ava Lakmazaheri as a PhD student. Ava took on an ambitious experiment right from the start, and leads with aplomb. She teaches me about neuroscience and aging. A calm and positive presence, we’re lucky to have you in the lab. Thank you, Ava.

I’ve been lucky to have Russell Martin (@russellmartin_) as a PhD student. Russell took on a challenging experiment on day one, learned everything BiLLEE, and made the study great. He teaches me about stroke. My generous STEAM partner. Thank you, Russell.

I was lucky to have Seungmoon Song (@SeungmoonS) as a postdoc. He is an all-rounder. He taught me about reflexes. He self-paced the treadmill. His speed study floored me. He mentored very well. He listened and taught. He makes us proud at Northeastern. Thank you, Seungmoon.

I’ve been lucky to work with many other amazing students at Stanford, like Chris Dembia (@ChrisDembia), who taught us OpenSim, Nick Bianco (@nick_a_bianco), who led a clean comparison study, Ricardo Reyes, who set our undergraduate publication record (four),

Hojung Choi, Isaiah Drummond, Amar Hajj-Ahmad, Fareeha Safir, Daniel Chan, and Ewurama Karikari, who were incredible course assistants in ME 104, and Andrew Zerbe and Six Skov, who lead exciting projects as undergraduates. Thank you to all the students I’ve worked with here.

Over the years, I’ve benefitted from other excellent collaborators who have improved my research, like Russ Tedrake, Alison Sheets-Singer (@AlisonLSheets), Chien Chern Cheah, Karen Gregorczyk, Dirk De Clercq, Kat Steele, and Friedl de Groote (@FriedlDeGroote). Thank you.

And I’m grateful for the #ScienceTwitter community. It has been fantastic to be able to tune in for just a few minutes at a time and get interesting, accessible bites of the latest research, when I need a quick break. I’ve been surprised by how much you’ve influenced my thinking.

There are so many great voices on Twitter, many of whom I’ve already thanked, but I wanted to especially thank Rodger Kram (@RodgerKram), James Finley (@jamesmfinley), Brian Umberger (@BrianUmberger), Jeannette Bohg (@leto__jean), Rob Siston (@ProfSiston),

Nidhi Seethapathi (@nidhi_s91), Jason Franz (@FranzBiomech), Ross Miller (@rosshm16), Konrad Kording (@KordingLab), Jessica Allen (@allenjl12), and Owen Beck (@Owen1Beck) for the thought provoking tweets and dialog. Thank you all.

So many others in the community have influenced my work, taught me, and given me valuable guidance, particularly at Dynamic Walking, ASB, World Congress, ICRA workshops, ICORR, and department visits. The list is too long, but if we’ve had a deep dive, you are on it. Thank you.

I’m sure that I’ve forgotten some people. I’m sorry if you saw this thread and I left you out, please don’t take it the wrong way.

As you can see, on the path to tenure I’ve benefitted from an amazing group of people, amazing opportunities, many second and third chances, and many, many failures that taught me. I’ve been very lucky. Most people with my profile have also been lucky, in similar ways.

The myth of the genius is just that: a myth. Every successful person has benefitted from hundreds of amazing, selfless mentors, teachers, friends, and family members. Progress is made by fields, not individuals. For my own successes, thank you to all those who made them possible.

I cannot repay you for your help. Instead, I will do my best pay it forward. For the rest of my tenure, I will try to be the best mentor, teacher, colleague, friend, and parent that I can to those whom I can positively influence. Thank you for inspiring me, and showing me how.