HUEGEL WEST, JOEL CARLOS

Currently, Dr. Joel C. Huegel West is the Delegate of the Tec de Monterrey in Boston, MA and visiting professor at Tufts University. He was, until 2025, the Chair of Biomechatronics and tenured professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Tecnologico de Monterrey in Guadalajara, Mexico. From 2017 to 2023, he was Research Affiliate at the Lisa K. Yang Center for Biomechatronics at the MIT Media Lab. Huegel completed his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in 2009 at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Previous to both Rice, Huegel obtained a M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington and his alma mater is LeTourneau University, Texas. The topic of his Ph.D. thesis was human-robot interaction for training and rehabilitation in challenging dynamic motor skill tasks. For 15 years Huegel developed technology for underprivileged communities and basic industrial biomechatronic applications. One project of particular interest is the design and testing of lower-limb prostheses. Over 50 researchers including junior faculty, post-graduate and undergraduate students and staff collaborated over the years. For these projects, Huegel has obtained slightly over 10.0 million pesos (500,000USD) in government grants, industry funding, and university seed funding. The lab, under his leadership, has published over 50 journal and conference publications in addition to five patents (2 more Patents pending). He is co-founder of two business ventures.

Huegel’s passion for teaching engineering and mentoring with excellence in the developing world has taken him to South and Central America, Asia and Mexico. In This passion for overseas service began during his years at his alma mater, LeTourneau University, having graduated in 1989 in Design Technology and again in 1993 in Mechanical Engineering Technology. During those years he co-founded Spring Break foreign-service trips to Mexico with over 100 participants each spring. His professional experience includes LeTourneau Inc. (earth-moving equipment) and then General Dynamics (satellite communications equipment) in the 1990´s. Huegel is a Senior Member of the IEEE and founding member of the LeTourneau Academy of Engineering and Engineering Technology.