Michael McKnight ’12 and NC State’s ASSIST Center revolutionize prosthetic limb technology

When Michael McKnight ‘12 outlines the fundamentals of his research in layman’s terms, it is evident that the path he has chosen for himself is not for the faint of heart: “What I am doing is 40% electrical engineering, 20% textile science, some percent material science, and then some percentage of biomedical engineering to be able to understand how to design for implementation.”

McKnight began his career at NC State University as a Park Scholar majoring in biomedical engineering, a field he describes as “the interface of biology and all of the other [engineering] disciplines,” and made the decision to return to his alma mater to pursue a PhD shortly after returning from a year in Honduras with Engineering World Health. He then joined the Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST), located on NC State’s Centennial Campus and funded by the National Science Foundation. McKnight cites his transition back to NC State as being a conscious one based on the focus the university has put on multidisciplinary studies, interdepartmental research, and collaboration.

Read more at Park Scholarships →