9612549 Winters The long-term objective of this project is to establish a closer relationship of collaboration between the Catholic University of America (CUA) and the Delft University of Technology (DUT) in the Netherlands. Many of the research interests of the Man-Machine Systems Group at DUT and the Biomedical Engineering Program at CUA are similar and complementary to each other. This complementarity is a natural incentive for both groups to expand interaction, and to establish more formal collaboration. The proposed bidirectional collaboration between the universities is envisioned to include the development of sister facilities for in-depth biomechanical and neuromotor study of the human shoulder, and a continuing exchange program of students and researchers from both institutions. The research universities, CUA and DUT, provide engineering expertise, while corresponding clinical expertise is provided by the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC and the University Hospital in Leiden, the Netherlands. The two facilities would have the capability of collecting and analyzing data for the same battery of shoulder function tests. Another important component of the project is the proposed student exchange program. In the first exchange, a doctoral student at CUA will spend several months with the Dutch Shoulder Group (comprised of DUT and two other Dutch universities). The student will document DUT's procedures and methodologies, and participate in the research activities of the Shoulder Group. Upon returning to CUA, the student will spend several weeks helping to replicate the Dutch capabilities at CUA, and to coordinate subsequent research plans. During the second year, the principal investigator and a student will return to Delft for two weeks to share findings, refine common methodologies, and plan future activities. Two doctoral students from DUT will also conduct short-term research at CUA. The expanded scientific collaboration b etween CUA and DUT will be beneficial to both institutions and to the field of biomedical engineering as a whole. Some of the more outstanding benefits include intellectual development of researchers at both institutions, advancement of research projects, and the resulting increase in knowledge for the wider community of biomedical professionals, with its concomitant potential improvements in health care. ***
