Alasdair Young

About

Alasdair Young is a Professor and Neal Family Chair in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech. He serves as the Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Development for the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. His research focuses on trade and regulatory policies, particularly concerning the European Union and the transatlantic relationship, with a growing interest in economic security and economic statecraft. Young directs the Center for Research on International Strategy and Policy and has previously co-directed the Center for European and Transatlantic Studies. He has authored five books, including 'Supplying Compliance with Trade Rules: Explaining the EU’s Responses to Adverse WTO Rulings' (2021) and 'Policy-Making in the European Union' (9th edition, 2025), and has edited numerous volumes. His publication record includes over twenty refereed journal articles in outlets such as the Journal of European Public Policy, World Politics, and the Journal of European Integration, along with more than 40 book chapters. Young has also performed consultancy work for the US and UK governments and the European Commission. His academic background includes a DPhil from the University of Sussex, an MIA from Columbia University, and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to Georgia Tech, he taught at the University of Glasgow for ten years and held research positions at the European University Institute in Florence and the University of Sussex.

Research topics

• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Science
• Computer Security
• Human–computer interaction
• Embedded system
• Engineering
• Physical medicine and rehabilitation
• Medicine
• Mathematics
• Simulation

Selected publications

• The exoskeleton expansion: improving walking and running economy

  Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation · 2020 · 415 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Since the early 2000s, researchers have been trying to develop lower-limb exoskeletons that augment human mobility by reducing the metabolic cost of walking and running versus without a device. In 2013, researchers finally broke this 'metabolic cost barrier'. We analyzed the literature through December 2019, and identified 23 studies that demonstrate exoskeleton designs that improved human walking and running economy beyond capable without a device. Here, we reviewed these studies and highlighte…

  DOI

• A comprehensive, open-source dataset of lower limb biomechanics in multiple conditions of stairs, ramps, and level-ground ambulation and transitions

  Journal of Biomechanics · 2021-02-20 · 337 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Real-Time Gait Phase Estimation for Robotic Hip Exoskeleton Control During Multimodal Locomotion

  IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters · 2021-02-26 · 154 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  We developed and validated a gait phase estimator for real-time control of a robotic hip exoskeleton during multimodal locomotion. Gait phase describes the fraction of time passed since the previous gait event, such as heel strike, and is a promising framework for appropriately applying exoskeleton assistance during cyclic tasks. A conventional method utilizes a mechanical sensor to detect a gait event and uses the time since the last gait event to linearly interpolate the current gait phase. Wh…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Deep Learning Enables Exoboot Control to Augment Variable-Speed Walking

  IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters · 2022 · 55 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Ankle exoskeletons have the potential to improve mobility, but common controllers are often inflexible to variations in tasks, such as changes in walking speed. To enable effective variable-speed exoboot control, we developed and validated a two-headed convolutional neural network trained to (1) classify stance versus swing and (2) predict the phase during stance, which was then mapped to a desired exoboot torque. This Machine Learning Estimator (MLE) was trained from nine participants walking a…

  PublisherDOI

• Human-in-the-Loop Optimization of Hip Exoskeleton Assistance During Stair Climbing

  IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering · 2025-01-30 · 8 citations

  articleSenior author

  OBJECTIVE: This study applies human-in-the-loop optimization to identify optimal hip exoskeleton assistance patterns for stair climbing. METHODS: Ten participants underwent optimization to individualize hip flexion and extension assistance, followed by a validation comparing optimized assistance (OPT) to biological hip moment-based assistance (BIO), no assistance (No-Assist), and no exoskeleton (No-Exo) conditions. RESULTS: OPT reduced metabolic cost by 4.5% compared to No-Exo, 11.44% compared t…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• A new framework for self-adaptive artificial intelligence to personalize assistance for patients using robotic exoskeletons and prostheses

  NIH · $2.4M · 2022–2027

• NRI: FND: Robotic Human Enhancement Enabled through Wearable Hip Exoskeletons Capable of Community Ambulation

  NSF · $702k · 2018–2023

• FRR: A new strategy for task-agnostic control of robotic exoskeletons by estimating underlying biological effort using deep learning

  NSF · $800k · 2023–2027

Frequent coauthors

• Levi J. Hargrove

  Northwestern University

  53 shared

• Inseung Kang

  28 shared

• Ann M. Simon

  Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

  24 shared

• Jonathan Camargo

  Universidad de Los Andes

  21 shared

• Todd Kuiken

  20 shared

• Dean D. Molinaro

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  19 shared

• Kinsey Herrin

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  18 shared

• Lauren H. Smith

  15 shared

Awards & honors

• Ivan Allen College’s Distinguished Researcher Award (2015)
• Jean Monnet Chair (2012-15)

Similar researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology

• Amanda Murdieh-28
• Philip Fei-Ling Wangh-16
• Margaret E. Kosalh-12