The Biomechatronic Man

MIT research scientist Hugh Herr lost both legs below the knee after a 1982 winter climbing ordeal. In less than a year, he hacked his prosthetics to allow him to climb again, and he went on to become one of the world’s leading innovators in the field. Author TODD BALF, who lost partial use of his legs after a spinal-cord injury, gets a frontrow seat as Herr plots his next big act—a $100 million project to end a slate of disabling conditions, including paralysis.

I can see himin his glass-fronted Cambridge office from the foosball table in the light-filled central atrium. He’s standing there talking to a visitor and seems to be finishing up. This entire side of the third floor in MIT’s new Media Lab building is partitioned with glass, and professor Hugh Herr and his colleagues and whatever madness they’re up to in their offices and the open, gadget-filled, lowerfloor lab are on display. Several people, myself included, are peering down, hoping to see a bit of magic. Months ago, when I e-mailed Herr to propose writing an article about him, I told him about my rare bone cancer and resulting partial paralysis below the waist as a way to explain my interest in his work. Though I didn’t tell him this, I…

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Outside (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2017

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