Vern L. Houston, PhD, CPO, has many years of research and development experience in Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Pedorthics. He has degrees in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. He is a board certified prosthetist and orthotist. He has an extensive background in computerized modeling, simulation, and analysis. Dr. Houston was principal investigator on the US Army MRMC sponsored research project on "Biomechanical Studies and Optical Digitizer Development for Enhanced Orthopedic Footwear CAD/CAM," and a co-principal investigator in the VA RR&DS sponsored research and development project on "Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing of Orthopedic Footwear." He was also a co-principal investigator in the VA RR&DS sponsored research and development projects on "Pedorthic 3-D Optical Digitizer Developmental," and "Clinical Testing and Evaluation of the VA-Cyberware BK Prosthetics Optical Digitizer". Dr. Houston was also a co-principal investigator, and played a major role in the VA RR&DS sponsored National AFMA Program for developmental testing and evaluation of prosthetics CAD/CAM systems. In the US Army MRMC sponsored studies of footwear biomechanics and the VA RR&DS sponsored project in orthopedic footwear CAD/CAM, Dr. Houston lead development of the project pedal plantar stress data acquisition, processing, and analysis software.

Carl P. Mason, MSBE, has degrees in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering. He has many years of experience in research and in experimental instrumentation design, measurement and control, computerized data acquisition, and computerized design and analysis in Mechanical, Electrical, Rehabilitation Engineering, and Prosthetics and Orthotics. Mr. Mason played a major role in the development of the VA-Cyberware prosthetics-orthotics optical digitizers. He was also former Director of the VA Prosthetics Center Bioengineering Locomotion Laboratory, where he designed and constructed numerous instruments for measurement of amputees', orthotic patients', and pedorthics patients' gait. Mr. Mason was responsible for adaptation of the VA NYHHCS prosthetics-orthotics CAM milling machine for orthopedic Last CAM, and for development of the VA NYHHCS insole carver for use with the VA Pedorthic CAD/CAM System. Mr. Mason was a co-principal investigator and played a key role in the VA RR&DS National AFMA Prosthetics CAD/CAM System Testing and Evaluation Program at the VA NYHHCS. In other VA research projects he has designed and developed instrumentation and software for computerized data acquisition, modeling, and analysis in studies of EMG signal based force feedback for regulation of functional electrical stimulation. He designed and developed a six-degree-of-freedom, instrumented pylon for measurement of ground reaction forces in lower limb prostheses. He designed and developed a barograph for measurement of foot/floor interface pressures. He developed instrumentation and associated software for computerized data acquisition and tracking of center of gravity loci in human subjects with strabismus. He performed computerized design and stress analysis in the design and development of the VAPC electric hand and powered hook. He developed a microprocessor based, voice recognition, control system for the VAPC six-degree-of-freedom manipulator for spinal cord injured veterans. Mr. Mason also has served as Chief of the VA NYHHCS Prosthetics-Orthotics Service, where he was responsible for provision of prosthetics and orthotics care for veterans at the VA NYHHCS Outpatient Clinic and the Northeastern Region STAMP Clinic. Mr. Mason is currently Chief of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Section, Engineering Service, at the VA NYHHCS. He is a co-principal investigator in the current VA RR&DS sponsored research and development project in "Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing of Orthopedic Footwear" at the VA NYHHCS. He is also a co-principal investigator in the VA RR&DS sponsored research and development projects "Developmental Enhancement and Application of the VA Prosthetics-Orthotics Optical Digitizer", "Clinical Testing and Evaluation of the VA-Cyberware BK Prosthetics Optical Digitizer", and "Evaluation and Testing of Prosthetics-Orthotics Hand Held Digitization and Virtual Casting Systems".

Gangming Luo, PhD, is a mechanical engineer with considerable research experience in orthopedic biomechanics, finite element modeling and analysis, and biomedical image processing and data visualization and analysis. Under the VA RR&DS sponsored research project in Orthopedic Footwear CAD/CAM at the VA NYHHCS, Dr. Luo was instrumental in the development of the VA Pedorthic CAD/CAM System software. He also played a key role in the other VA NYHHCS prosthetics CAD/CAM research projects. He has developed test subject residual limb FE models and performed FE analysis of residual limb tissue stresses and strains in variational socket design studies. In the VA NYHHCS Lower Limb Prosthetics-Orthotics Optical Digitizer research and development project, Dr. Luo implemented the digitizer automatic landmark detection-identification-registration neural network software. Dr. Luo has been responsible for testing of pedorthic materials mechanical characteristics, and development of pedal finite element models used to predict pedal tissue stresses and strains as a function of specified pedorthic treatments.

MaryAnne Garbarini, MA, PT, is a research physical therapist and administrative assistant. She has a masters degree in motor learning and is a registered physical therapist. She has extensive clinical experience in functional testing, and the physiological evaluation and testing of prosthetics, orthotics, and pedorthics patients. She was the research physical therapist and administrative assistant for the VA RR&DS sponsored research and development projects at the VA NYHHCS in "Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing of Orthopedic Footwear", "Developmental Enhancement and Application of the VA Prosthetics-Orthotics Optical Digitizer", "Clinical Testing and Evaluation of the VA-Cyberware BK Prosthetics Optical Digitizer", and "Evaluation and Testing of Prosthetics-Orthotics Hand Held Digitization and Virtual Casting Systems". She was also the research physical therapist and administrative assistant in the National AFMA Research Program at the VA NYHHCS. She is responsible for experimental test subject coordination and biomechanical evaluation, and for the acquisition and project computerized database compilation of test subject medical, anatomical, physiological, and podiatric, and pedorthic records.

Aaron C. Beattie, system analyst/programmer, has a baccalaureate degree in Computer Science, and has 16 years practical experience in writing, testing, and maintaining software for instrumentation control, data acquisition, and analysis. Under the VA RR&DS sponsored Lower Limb Prosthetics-Orthotics Optical Digitizer research and development project at the VA NYHHCS he wrote the digitizer control, data acquisition and processing software, and in the VA RR&DS sponsored project on Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing of Orthopedic Footwear at the VA NYHHCS, Mr. Beattie wrote the Last and insole CAM software, and the FScan transducer testing and calibration software. Mr. Beattie was also responsible for developing the FScan, GaitRite Electronic Walkway, and Qualysis Motion Analysis System synchronization firmware, and for writing the VA NYHHCS Rehabilitation Engineering pedal stress analysis software. He is responsible for development, enhancement, and maintenance of all software, for instrument and transducer calibration, and development of data acquisition, storage, processing, and analysis software used in the various projects.

Chaiya Thongpop, research technician, has 11 years of experience in Prosthetics-Orthotics-Pedorthics research. He is fully trained and thoroughly experienced in use and maintenance of all prosthetics-orthotics-pedorthics computer equipment and software, and in set-up, use, and maintenance of the project FScan Stress Measurement System and the GaitRite Electronic Walkway. He assists in acquisition of the optical scans of the test subjects' feet and orthopedic shoe Lasts, and in gait data collection as well as in fabrication of all experimental orthopedic footwear to be tested. He is also responsible for set up and maintenance of all project equipment, and maintenance of all project supply inventories.