Dr. Marshall Trout is receiving the Outstanding Dissertation Award for his PhD thesis “Improving the Functionality and Translatability of Noninvasive Neuroprosthetics for the Hand”.
This recognition comes from the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering at the University of Utah.
He earned his PhD in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Utah in August 2025.
Trout says he is thrilled and honored about the award.
He credits Dr. Jacob George and his PhD committee for making his work and success possible.
Trout is the first PhD graduate from the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab, an interdisciplinary lab that is a joint effort between the College of Engineering and the School of Medicine. It is affiliated with the Electrical and Computer Engineering and other U organizations.
“The support I received from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Utah NeuroRobotics lab enabled me to focus my Ph.D. research on addressing known issues with the translatability of assistive medical devices, which I hope will improve the next generation of neuroprostheses,” he says.
Trout was the lead author with Jacob George and others on a study that worked with four amputees to investigate how AI could be used to autonomously control an advanced prothesis. The AI-powered prosthesis was capable of working intelligently alongside the amputees to enhance dexterity and make the prosthesis more intuitive to use. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.