Smart Materials

Lenore Rasmussen, PhD, is the CTO and Founder of Ras Labs, and she is also an adjunct professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), where she created and teaches the graduate course "Smart Materials and Actuators (and Biomimicry)" through the Robotics Engineering Department.  Her corporate experience includes Johnson & Johnson.  While in grad school at Purdue, a relative suffered a traumatic farm injury, and she investigated prostheses, but was disappointed with what was available in the marketplace.  Her drive to advance prosthetic technology led her to invent Synthetic Muscle(TM) - electroactive polymers (EAPs) that contract and expand at low voltages, which garnered attention in the robotics community.  Dr. Rasmussen is a recognized global leader in the EAP industry with multiple patents and publications, presentations at global conferences, including the SPIE Electroactive Polymers Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) Conferences, Orthotic and Prosthetic Association (AOPA) conferences and world congresses, and robotics meetings and consortia, and multi-media communication, including NASA TV.  She holds a PhD in Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry specialty, from Virginia Tech, MS in Biology, Biophysics Specialty, from Purdue University, and double major Bachelor of Science degrees in biochemistry and chemistry from Virginia Tech.

Chapter1. Synthetic Muscle(TM) for Deep Space Travel and Other Applications on Earth and in Space.- Chaoter2. Q&A with NASA Astronaut Yvonne Cagle, MD Moon and Mars Missions RBE 533 "Smart Materials, Actuation, and Biomimicry," Worcester Polytechnic Institute on October 8, 2019.- Chapter3. Shape control of large lightweight mirrors with dielectric elastomer actuation.- Chapter4. The Hydro Muscle and CRFC Valve: An Efficient and Compact Fluidic Robotic System.- Chapter5. Contractile Pneumatic Artificial Muscle Generates Extension by Actuating an Integrated Pushrod.- Chapter6. Soft Pneumatic Actuators: Modeling, Control, and Application.- Chapter7. Active thermal control of satellites with electroactive materials.