POTSDAM -- Kevin Fite has been granted tenure and promoted from assistant professor to associate professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering at Clarkson University.

Fite joined Clarkson in 2007 as a faculty member in the department of mechanical and aeronautical engineering.

He received his bachelor of engineering degree, his master of science, and his Ph.D., all in mechanical engineering, from Vanderbilt University.

Fite's research interests are in applied nonlinear control, multivariable control, and the design and control of fluid-power and electromechanical systems. His current efforts are focused on applications of robotics and mechatronics in lower-extremity bionic limb systems.

Aspects of his interests include the development of biomechanically-inspired control architectures, which enable the robot leg to recognize when the user is, for instance, switching from climbing stairs to running, and automatically change its gait to match. Fite enjoys the teaching of the modeling and analysis of dynamical systems, with application to the design and control of mixed-domain energetic systems.

Fite has published numerous journal articles and presented papers at more than 20 professional and academic conferences. He has managed research projects totaling more than $300,000 from the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, the National Institutes of Health and other funding sources.

Fite currently serves as chair of the Robotics Technical Committee within the Dynamic Systems and Control Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and is also an associate editor of the Conference Editorial Board.

His honors include the Best Paper Award at the 2007 International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics and multiple awards for teaching excellence in the Coulter School of Engineering at Clarkson.