Dr. Marwan El Rich
Dr. marwan el-rich Associate Professor Mechanical Engineering

Contact Information
marwan.elrich@ku.ac.ae +971 2 312 4193

Biography

Before joining Khalifa University in 2016, I was an assistant professor in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and adjunct professor in the department of Biomedical Engineering at University of Alberta in Canada. I also worked as engineer expert in Biomechanics at Altair Engineering France for 2 years.

My research area of expertise is computational biomechanics of the human musculoskeletal system with focus on the thoracolumbar and cervical spines as well as the ankle joint. I am interested in the development of numerical tools such as musculoskeletal (MS) and finite element (FE) models that help study the biomechanical properties of the musculoskeletal system in healthy subjects, in patients with diseases such as low back pain, neck pain, talar bone fracture, gait deficits and associated musculoskeletal complications following a stroke, and to optimize the related treatments.  

I am also interested in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can ease the process of subject-specific modelling and propose alternative solutions to the current techniques which are labor-intensive and time-consuming.

I am co-founder of MASHYAH (www.mashyah.com), a start-up company, which enables comprehensive gait analysis by combining portable motion sensors and personalized musculoskeletal modeling to motion collect data and compute joints reaction loads.

I am Professional Engineer and member of the APEGA (Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, Canada, the European Society of Biomechanics and the ASME-Bioengineering Division.  I am also an associate editor in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, section Biomechanics.

I have supervised 3 post-doc fellows, 7 PhD students, 4 MSc and 5 MEng students who have graduated. Four of the PhD graduates are assistant professor/ research associates in Canadian and US universities. Currently, I am supervising 2 PhD and 1 MSc students. 


Education
  • Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering (Biomechanics), Polytechnique Montreal (Canada)
  • M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal (Canada)
  • D.E.A. Civil Engineering, Ecole Centrale Paris, (France)
  • B.Sc. Civil Engineering, Ecole National Polytechnique

Teaching
  • Finite Element Analysis (ENGR455)
  • Selected Topics in Mechanical Engineering (MEEN 694 )
  • Engineering Dynamics (MEEN201)
  • Mechanics of Solids (MEEN325)
  • Statics (MEEN200)

Affiliated Research Institutes/Centers
  • Healthcare Engineering Innovation Center

Research

Research Staff and Graduate Students:

Students
Abdul Aziz Hulleck Ph.D. student
Rajan Prasad Ph.D. student
Shiza Ahmed M.Sc. student