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Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering College of Engineering

Dr. Suman Chowdhury

Associate Professor
Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Florida

Director: Human Performance and Neuro-Engineering Lab

Co-Director: Human Systems Engineering Lab

Other Affiliations: Center for Human Performance and Wellness

Warren B. Nelms Institute for the Connected World

Email: sk.chowdhury@ufl.edu
Office: Weil 474
Phone: +1 (352) 294-7731
Fax: +1 (352) 392-3537

Research Website

Dr. Chowdhury joined as an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Florida in August 2024. He works on traumatic brain injury, brain mechano-electrical modeling, musculoskeletal health biomechanics, helmets, exoskeletons, robotics and prosthetic designs, and rehabilitation engineering. More

Research Interests:
  • Methods: My research method encompasses a dynamic fusion of computational biomechanics, neuroscience, machine learning, and control theory to develop multiscale, multiphysics model of the brain and brain-muscle interaction dynamics, with the purpose of creating unprecedented scientific knowledge to advance the fields of biomechanics, neuroengineering, and ergonomics.  
  • Applications: 1) Traumatic brain injury mechanics, 2) motor dysfunction in stroke, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and other neurological disorders, 3) work performance with a disability, 4) human-centric designs of helmet, exoskeleton, robotics, and prosthetics, and 5) neurorehabilitation through the development of new therapeutic interventions.

Awards and Honors:

  • National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2023)
  • Best Paper Award, 27th Annual International Occupational Ergonomics and Safety Conference, 2015, Nashville, TN
  • 2003 – 2004 Dean’s Scholarship, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Academic Positions:

  • Associate Professor (2024 – present), Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
  • Assistant Professor (2019 – 2024), Department of Industrial, Manufacturing, & Systems Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
  • Assistant Research Scientist (2017 – 2019), Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

Education and Post-Graduate Training:

  • Postdoctoral Research Associate: Computational Biomechanics (2016 – 2017), Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering: Biomechanics and Human Factors Engineering (2016), West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
  • M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering: Biomechanics and Human Factors Engineering (2012), West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
  • B.Sc. in Industrial and Production Engineering: Operation Research (2006), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Leadership:

  • Chair (2020 – 2022), Occupational Ergonomics TG, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, USA

Selected Publications:

  • Bahreinizad, H., Paulon, G. M., Wei, L., & Chowdhury, S. K. (2025). An MRI-derived head-neck finite element model. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 1-21. doi.org/10.1007/s10237-025-02013-x
  • Wei, L. H., Paulon, G. M., Sarker, P., & Chowdhury, S. K. (2025). Sustained-till-exhaustion effects of firefighter helmets on the neck muscle fatigue mechanism. Ergonomics, 1-17.​ doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2025.2548004.
  • Wei, L. H., Sudeesh, S., Chakroborty, S., & Chowdhury, S. K. (2025). A comprehensive methodological framework for 3D head anthropometric shape modeling of a small dataset. Ergonomics, 1-16. doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2025.2518306
  • Wei, L. H., & Chowdhury, S. K. (2025). An electromyography-based multi-muscle fatigue model to investigate operational task performance. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 1-17. doi.org/10.1080/10255842.2025.2510369
  • Paulon, G. M., Sudeesh, S., Wei, L., & Chowdhury, S. K. (2024). Firefighter helmets and cervical intervertebral Kinematics: An OpenSim-based biomechanical study. Journal of Biomechanics, 112364. doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.112364
  • Bahreinizad, H., & Chowdhury, S. K. (2024). Implant Design and Cervical Spinal Biomechanics and Neurorehabilitation: A Finite Element Investigation. Military Medicine, 189(Supplement_3), 791-799. doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usae279
  • S. T. Mubarrat, A. Fernandes and S. K. Chowdhury, “A Physics-Based Virtual Reality Haptic System Design and Evaluation by Simulating Human-Robot Collaboration,” in IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, vol. 54, no. 4, pp. 375-384, Aug. 2024, DOI: 10.1109/THMS.2024.3407109
  • S. T. Mubarrat, S. K. Chowdhury and A. S. Fernandes, “Evaluating Visual-Spatiotemporal Co-Registration of a Physics-Based Virtual Reality Haptic Interface,” in IEEE Access, vol. 12, pp. 57017-57032, 2024, DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3391186
  • Hasan, M. M., Rahman, S., Parmar, H., & Chowdhury, S. K. (2024). A Novel Artificial Intelligence (AI) Method to Classify and Predict the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease. bioRxiv, 2024-06. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.06.03.597177
  • Mubarrat, S. T., & Chowdhury, S. (2023). Convolutional LSTM: a deep learning approach to predict shoulder joint reaction forces. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 26(1), 65-77, doi.org/10.1080/10255842.2022.2045974

Patents:

Grant Activities:

Current Research Support

  • Chowdhury, Suman (PI), “CAREER: Unifying Neuroscience and Biomechanics Paradigms for Modeling Brain and Muscle Responses to Mechanical Impacts,” National Science Foundation, $585,473.00; (September 2023 – August 2028).

Past Research Supports

  • Chowdhury, Suman (PI), McKenna, Gregory (Co-PI), Cong, Weilong. (Co-PI), “NextGen Firefighter Helmet: A Prototype Design through Computer-Aided Reverse Engineering and Biomechanical Modeling,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology, $562,253.00; (September 2021 – May 2024).
  • Chowdhury, Suman (PI), McKenna, Gregory (Co-PI), Pantoya, Michelle (Co-PI) Cong, Weilong. (Co-PI), “Mission-Adaptive, Modular Law Enforcement Helmet,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology, $994,591; (September 2022 – August 2024)
  • Chowdhury, Suman. (PI), “Evaluating the Technical Feasibility of Upper Body Exoskeleton in Masonry Work in Mast Climbing Work Platforms,” CDC National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, $40,208.00; (September 2021 – August 2022).
  • Chowdhury, Suman. (PI) “Knowledgebase of Head-Neck Musculoskeletal Dynamics for NextGen Firefighter Helmet Prototype Design,” Texas Tech University Neuroimaging Center, $5,000; (September 2020 – August 2021).
  • Chowdhury, Suman (Co-I) “Neck Biomechanics During Motions and Sustained Exertions,” CDC National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, $1,577,536.00; (August 2016 – August 2019).