I am a Professor in the Departments of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering and the director of the Sienko Research Group. My research focuses on the design, development, and evaluation of medical devices; design science; and engineering education. I have led efforts at the University of Michigan to incorporate the constraints of global health technologies within engineering design at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and have established field sites in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia at which numerous devices have been conceptualized and refined in collaboration with local stakeholders. I am the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and I hold a doctoral degree (Ph.D. 2007) in Medical Engineering and Bioastronautics from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) program, an S.M. (2000) in Aeronautics & Astronautics from MIT, and a B.S. (1998) in Materials Engineering from the University of Kentucky.

My research interests include biomechanics and the development of wearable technologies for data-driven approaches in evidence-based clinical care. I am currently a Ph.D. pre-candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. I received dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University.

My research interests include design in cross-cultural and international settings, the role of identity and positionality in socially engaged design, and engineering education. I am currently studying the ways that engineers think about positionality as an underlying factor in design work. I am a Ph.D. candidate in Design Science and hold a dual MS in Mechanical Engineering and Anthropology from Oregon State University. I also work with several organizations to design and manufacture improved institutional cookstoves in low- and middle-income countries.