Hugh Herr

Timeline

1. 1964–1982

   Climbing and a 1982 amputation

   Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1964 to a Mennonite family, he grows into a prodigy rock climber. In January 1982, he and fellow climber Jeff Batzer are caught in a blizzard on Mount Washington, and severe frostbite leads to the amputation of both his legs below the knee at 17. He climbs again on prostheses he designs himself.

2. 1990–2000

   From physics to the Leg Lab

   He earns a BA in physics at Millersville University in 1990, then a master's degree in mechanical engineering at MIT and a PhD in biophysics at Harvard. As a postdoctoral researcher, he works at the MIT Leg Lab, part of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab, which builds dynamic legged robots that walk, run and hop. In 2000, he takes over as director of the lab, which becomes the Biomechatronics Group within the MIT Media Lab.

3. 2004–2007

   The Rheo Knee and a powered ankle

   His computer-controlled knee, marketed as the Rheo Knee, uses sensor feedback and a magnetorheological fluid to mimic the changing flex of the human knee, and TIME names it one of the top ten health inventions of 2004. In 2007, his powered ankle-foot prosthesis makes the same TIME list, and he receives the Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment.

4. 2007–2014

   Founding iWalk

   In 2007, he founds the MIT spin-off iWalk, later renamed BionX Medical Technologies, and raises EUR 20 million to develop bionic limbs. His BiOM T2 foot and ankle prosthesis, released in 2010, uses a motor drive to propel each step; by April 2014, more than 1,000 devices are distributed, half worn by US veterans.

5. 2011–2016

   A Princess of Asturias Award

   TIME names him the “Leader of the Bionic Age” in 2011. In 2016, the European Patent Office names him a finalist for the European Inventor Award, and he wins the Princess of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research.

6. July 2024

   A leg under neural control

   In July 2024, he is senior author of a Nature Medicine study of the agonist-antagonist myoneural interface (AMI), an amputation surgery that reconnects paired muscles so a prosthetic leg can be driven by the body's own nervous system. Seven patients with the surgery walk faster, avoid obstacles and climb stairs more naturally than people with a traditional amputation.

7. July 2025

   A bone-anchored bionic knee

   In July 2025, he is senior author of a Science paper on a bionic knee integrated with the user's muscle and bone, anchored by a titanium rod in the residual femur. People with above-the-knee amputations walk faster, climb stairs and avoid obstacles more easily with it than with a traditional prosthesis.

8. As of October 2026

   Cabot Professor and Yang Center co-director

   In 2022, he becomes co-director of MIT's K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics and an associate investigator at the McGovern Institute. In March 2026, his team reports a myoneural actuator that turns living muscle into fatigue-resistant, computer-controlled motors that can be implanted to restore movement in organs. He is the Thomas D. and Virginia W. Cabot Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab.