1968) is a medical researcher from New Zealand, residing in the United States, who specializes in developing telemanipulator robotics for making surgery less invasive, and therefore providing faster recovery for patients.
[5][4] Her design work on wheels for solar cars, done in collaboration with James D. Worden, was recognized by a second place in the MIT Admiral Luis de Florez award.
[9][10] Also on her team was Megan Smith, who later became the Chief Technology Officer of the United States under President Barack Obama.
[11] Mohr graduated in 1992; her Masters' Thesis was entitled: "The Design of a Compact Actuator System for a Robotic Wrist/Hand.
[6] At MIT she held a number of teaching assistantships and research positions: under Dr. David Gordon Wilson, Mohr helped with a light for a bicycle that was powered by a crank generator; she worked on orthotic knee braces under Dr. Will Durfee; and was a TA for undergraduate design courses.
When Mohr left school to work on electric cars, she became Rod Millen's program manager in California.
[6] She quickly moved on to be a mechanical engineer at AeroVironment, in Monrovia, California,[11][2] working under Dr. Paul MacCready on fuel cells and hybrid batteries for land vehicles[6][3] as well as high-altitude aircraft.
[11] She founded a laboratory focusing on creating fuel cell systems for aircraft designed to stay aloft for months at a time.
[5] She once told the New York Times that her interest in engineering is "about improving the human condition, and also, not incidentally, making the science better for when we and our loved ones need it.
[5] As she contemplated her career path, she observed the testing of experimental medical devices during surgeries at Massachusetts General Hospital.
[1] Since she was interested in the potential for robotics lessening the force exerted on the body during surgery, she suggested some of her mentors at med school try the da Vinci.
[4][2] Over time, she looked at applications for new surgical technologies, including focal therapy for destroying tumors and infrared vision markers.
"[6] In addition to her main career path, she got very interested in green architecture and developed a certain level of expertise in the area.