Senior Research Scientist

Elliott joined IHMC in July of 2025 as a Senior Research Scientist working with the robotics team. He is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and robotics at the University of Michigan. He directs the Neurobionics Lab, who studies the dynamics of how and why people use wearable robotic systems. His group uses this understanding to develop novel hardware designs, including the Open-Source Leg.

His research interests include precision machine design, development of exoskeletons and robotics prostheses, brushless motors, dynamic of human locomotion, human perception and psychophysics, neural control of movement, biomechanics, and human performance augmentation. He holds patents for the design and control of wearable robotic systems.

Rouse and his research have been featured at TED, on the Discovery Channel, CNN, National Public Radio, Wired Magazine UK, Business Insider, among others. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the Henry Russel Award at UM. He is on the Editorial Board of Wearable Technologies and is a member of the IEEE EMBS Technical Committee on BioRobotics.

He earned bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University. Subsequently, he joined MIT as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the MIT Media Lab. Prior to joining Michigan, he was a principal investigator at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab / Northwestern University, and worked as a mechanic in professional Le Mans autoracing. In 2019 – 2020, he was visiting faculty at (Google) X where he co-founded their exoskeleton development team. In 2024-2025, he was on sabbatical at the Robotics and AI (RAI) Institute, where he worked on advanced machine design workflows.

In his personal time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons, who are very into building and destroying stuff. He likes to play the drums, work on cars, and research UFOs.