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Roger Emanuel Kaufman Professor Emeritus of Engineering and of Anatomy and Cell Biology Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering E-Mail: kaufman1@gwu.edu

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*Little known historical fact: In 1586 the inventor Rogerius Kaufmanicus took the above motion picture using his recent creation, the Camerius Digitalis Animatus. Unfortunately Rogerius failed to patent his invention at the time, and died penilus (as they said in those days) so the above rare film of Fontana moving the obelisk is all that remains as evidence of his achievement.

Education

Tufts University (College of Engineering)
Department of Mechanical Engineering (1958-1962)
B.S., 1962

Yale University (School of Drama)
Department of Theatre Engineering (1962-1965)
M.F.A., 1965

Yale University (Graduate School)
Department of Engineering and Applied Science (1965-1966)

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (School of Engineering)
Division of Machines and Structures (1966-1968)
M.E., 1968

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (School of Engineering)
Division of Machines and Structures (1967-1969)
Ph.D., 1969

P.E. License #7477 (District of Columbia)

Speciality Areas and Research Projects

• Created new family of electro-mechanical tissue distraction surgical instruments for minimally invasive treatment of scoliosis, pectus excavatum, and other diseases. (with Children's Hospital National Medical Center)
• Researched innovative surgical instruments for scoliosis and other diseases.
• My simulations and designs for innovative surgical instruments for scoliosis and other diseases.
• Created and ran GW Office of Community Service volunteer project "Bridging the Gap: Creative Technological Aids for Children with Neuromuscular Handicaps" with Children's Hospital National Medical Center
• Advised students, designed, and built portions of the GW Obama Presidential Float
• Biomedical engineering of surgical instruments
• Designed haptic simulators for virtual reality training of doctors
• Designed immersive environment simulators for virtual reality training of marines
• Designed assistive living devices and dressing machines
• Biomedical engineering of aids for the handicapped
• Kinematic synthesis and analysis of mechanisms
• Biomechanics
• Computer-aided design
• Historical photos of early work on interactive system for NCI on radiation therapy treatment planning
• Historical photos of early work on interactive system for kinematic synthesis and analysis of mechanisms
• Mini/micro computer applications
• Former member, The GW Institute for Computer Graphics
• Former Faculty Advisor,, The GWU Mini Baja Project
• Former member of Steering Committee, The GW Institute for Biomedical Engineering (GWIBE)
• Former chair, Laboratories and Infrastructure Committee, The GW Institute for Biomedical Engineering (GWIBE)
• Former member of Advisory Group, The Laboratory for Advanced Computer Applications in Medicine
• Former Coordinator, SEAS Special Projects Laboratory
• Former Faculty Coordinator, SEAS Machine Shop
• Taught mechanical design classes at GW and at MIT and developed numerous innovative design competitions

Books

• A FORTRAN Coloring Book, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London England, The MIT Press, 1978. 285 pp., paperback ISBN 0 262 61026 4
• FORTRAN KEPESKONYV, (Hungarian Translation of A FORTRAN Coloring Book), Translated by Dr. Kemeny Tamasne, Muszaki Konyvkiado, Budapest, 1983

  (The FORTRAN Coloring Book received an unusual amount of publicity for a technical computer book. It was reviewed under 'New and Noteworthy Paperbacks' in the New York Times Book Review Section for April 30, 1978. The German news magazine, Der Spiegel, carried a picture from the book and a review in its 'Prisma' section for July 3, 1978. The book appeared on a C.B.S. television news report from the Moscow International Book Fair, and was the subject of a syndicated New York Times article which appeared in newspapers around the country. The book also was reviewed in several foreign publications, such as London's New Scientist for September 21, 1978.

  Wikipedia back in 2007 used the FORTRAN Coloring Book as an example of "Educational Uses" of coloring books and the book continues to be cited and quoted in hundreds of contexts to this day. For instance, as part of Library Week 2010 the Franklin Pierce Law Center Library set up a chalk board asking patrons to name a favorite book. By Friday both sides of the board were covered in favorite books. Sixty-one books were listed including a Fortran Coloring Book in company with such classics as Anna Karina, Crime and Punishment, Leaves of Grass, and Good Night Moon. A search on "What single book is the best introduction to your field (or specialization within your field) for laypeople?" brought up a Fortran Coloring Book in company with Bertrand Russel's The Problem's of Philosophy and other such lesser-regarded works.
  
  
• Introduction to Burmester Theory, unpublished text used in courses at G.W.U., M.I.T., University of Wisconsin, and in special NSF College Teachers Summer Program at Oklahoma State University.

Films

(These five 16mm. KINSYN films are now part of the permanent collection of The Library of Congress and are stored at the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center's Packard Campus in Culpepper Virginia.)

• "KINSYN III" 16 mm. motion picture, sound, 2,200 ft., one hour duration, originally presented at the 14th ASME Mechanisms Conference, Montreal, Canada, September, 1976.
• "KAUFMAN'S KINSYN KINEMATIC KINETOGRAPHY KAPER" 16 mm. motion picture, sound, 425 ft., 11 minutes duration, originally presented at the 13th Design Automation Conference, San Francisco, June 1976 and at the 14th ASME Mechanisms Conference, Montreal, Canada, September, 1976.
• "KAUFMAN'S KINSYN KINEMATIC KINETOGRAPHIC KARTOON", 16 mm. motion picture, sound, 225 ft., 6 minutes duration, originally presented at the 14th ASME Mechanisms Conference, Montreal, Canada, September, 1976.

  (These three films have been requested for showing by numerous companies, universities, and government laboratories. Among these have been Mattel, General Electric, E.I.duPont deNemours, General Motors, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, University of Wisconsin, and others. Several companies and universities have acquired copies of these films. Among these have been American Can Co., Digital Equipment Company, MCAUTO, General Dynamics, the U.S. Naval Academy, and others. MCAUTO and Boeing Computer Services based the development of their mechanism synthesis software packages on material shown in these films.)

• "KINSYN - An Interactive System for the Kinematic Synthesis of Mechanisms"16 mm. motion picture, sound, 28 minutes duration, originally presented at the Third World Congress on Theory of Machines and Mechanisms, September 13-20, 1971, Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia; also presented by invitation at "On-Line 72: International Symposium and Exhibition of On-Line Interactive Computing", September 4-7, 1972, Uxbridge, Middlesex, England.

(This film has been shown at several other conferences in this country and abroad; in addition, it was a part of M.I.T.'s Inaugural Events Program on the occasion of the inauguration of President Wiesner. It has frequently been requested by professors in computer science, kinematics, and engineering design at a number of universities; and has been shown at numerous industrial seminars at companies such as General Motors, Western Electric and Procter and Gamble, and at government agencies such as NASA.)

• "Teabag Machine and Front End Loader" 16 mm. motion picture, silent, 250 ft.,6 minutes duration, originally presented at the 14th ASME Mechanisms Conference, Montreal, Canada, September, 1976.
• "Toys for the Handicapped" 14 minute 35 mm sound color motion picture produced by United Cerebral Palsy National Association, showing devices designed and built by students working under the direction of R.E.Kaufman

• "Creative Technological Aids" 4:45 minutes videotape, American Broadcasting Co., 1976, made for 1976 Cerebral Palsy National Telethon, showing devices designed and built by students working under the direction of R.E.Kaufman.
• "An Anthropomorphic Eight-Bar Spine Simulator", shown at the Keynote Session of the 8th Design Automation Conference, September 12, 1982.
• "KINSYN7"15 minute videotape shown at numerous companies and by invitation at conferences such as the National Design Engineering Shows and Conferences, McCormick Place, Chicago, and the Eastern and Western Design Engineering Shows of the ASME.
• "PantsPutterOnner", showing a dressing machine designed and built by Roger E. Kaufman for a former G.W.U. doctoral student born without arms.
• "ShirtPutterOnner", showing a dressing machine designed and built by Roger E. Kaufman for a former G.W.U. doctoral student born without arms.
• "Overhead Virtual Reality Harness Systems for Full-Body In-Place Virtual Interaction", 4 Min. Video, IEEE Virtual Reality 2007
• "Kneeling and Go-Prone Inverted and Overhead Harness Systems for Full-Body In Place Virtual Interaction", 6 Min. Video, IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces, 3DUI 2007
• "Kaufman Standing Assist Device", 2.23 Min. Video, showing a prototype assist device for persons with ailments such as knee problems, back problems, or weakness due to aging.
• A bunch more of my random videos, films, research projects, Mini Baja competitions, student design projects, historical CAD videos and other weird stuff...

Patent

• U.S. Patent US 2020-0326076 A1“Hot Water Recirculation System”, Roger E. Kaufman
• U.S. Patent US 2023-0184444 A1 A1“Hot Water Recirculation System”, Roger E. Kaufman (Docketed new case)

Other Publications

• U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2014/0358150 A1 “Surgical Distraction Device With External Activation”, Roger E. Kaufman and Anthony D. Sandler (Assigned to Children's National Medical Center)
• U.S. Provisional Patent Application Publication “Standing Assist Device”, Roger Kaufman
• PCT International Patent Application Docket 034163_021WO “Virtual Reality Simulator Harness Systems”
• "A Family of New Ergonomic Harness Mechanisms for Full-Body Natural Constrained Motions in Virtual Environments", IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces, 3DUI 2007
• "Harness Mechanisms for Full-Body Motions in Virtual Environments", Poster, IEEE Virtual Reality 2007
• Demonstrated the “Kaufman Pedestal Virtual Reality Harness” at the 11th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Caesar’s Palace Hotel, July 22-27, 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada. (By invitation.)
• Virtual Reality, video and invited talk at the TTI/Vanguard’s “NextGens Technologies” 2005 conference in Washington D.C.   
• "Virtual Technologies and Environments: New Centering Harness Designs”, Naval Training Science and Technology Meetings, Office of Naval Research, Washington DC. (Several years)
• "Training Environment for Inferior Vena Cava Filter Placement", Proceedings of Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 6, San Diego, CA, Jan 28-31, 1998 and published in Studies in Health Technology and Informatics Volume 50, pp. 291-297. (with J. Hahn, Ph.D., A. Winick, M.D., T. Carleton, Y. Park, R. Lindeman, K.M. Oh, Ph.D., N. Al-Ghreimil, R. Walsh, Ph.D., M. Loew, Ph.D., J. Gerber, and S. Sankar.
• "Virtual Reality Surgical Simulation for Lower Urinary Tract Endoscopy and Procedures", Michael J. Manyak, Kristin Santangelo, James Hahn, Roger Kaufman, Thurston Carleton, Xing Cheng Hua, Raymond J. Walsh, Journal of Endourology. Apr 2002, Vol. 16, No. 3: 185-190 and in Journal of Bladder Disease, Part A: Research Concepts and Clinical Applications, pp 841-852, 2003.
• "Making Surgical Simulations a Reality: Technical and Practical Issues for Applications in Medicine", James Hahn,Ge Jin, Dongho Kim, Roger Kaufman, Michael Manyak, John Rewcastle, Raymond Walsh.
• "The Laboratory for Advanced Computer Applications in Medicine", Raymond J. Walsh, Michael Manyak, Roger Kaufman, Murray Loew, and Jean Johnson Abstract to Experimental Biology Annual Meeting, April 22-26, 2002 , New Orleans , LA.
• "The Laboratory for Advanced Computer Applications in Medicine (LACAM)", Raymond Walsh, James Hahn, Michael Manyak, Roger Kaufman, Murray Loew, FASEB JOURNAL, Mar 20, 2002, Vol. 16, No. 4, pA382.
• Raymond J. Walsh, Michael Manyak, Roger Kaufman, Murray Loew, and Jean Johnson, " The Laboratory for Advanced Computer Applications in Medicine", Abstract to Experimental Biology Annual Meeting, April 22-26, 2002 , New Orleans , LA.
• "Bridging the Gap: A Volunteer Project to Develop Creative Technological Aids for Children with Neuromuscular Handicaps", R. Q. Glickman. T.A. Howard, R. Kaufman, 10th Annual Children's National Medical Center Research Day, April 22-23, 2010, Companion Booklet P.162.
• "KINSYN III: A New Human-Engineered System for Interactive Computer-Aided Design of Planar Linkages", ASME Paper No. 76-DET-48, Journal of Engineering for Industry, Trans ASME, Volume 99 Series B No. 2, May, 1977, pp. 440-448 (with A. J. Rubel).
• "Isodose Synthesis in Homogeneous Phantoms Using a Velocity-Constrained Bivariate Collimator", Proceedings of the Fourth New England Bioengineering Conference, Yale University, 1976. (Abstract published in Biotelemetry, International Journal on Biotelemetry and Patient Monitoring, Vol. 2, No. 1-2, 1975) (with F. E. Munschauer III and R. B. Washburn, Jr.)
• "Magic Mice: A Linkage-Based Toy for Handicapped Children", Proceedings, Fourth Applied Mechanisms Conference, Chicago, Nov. 1975 (with D. Idec Chambers).
• "KINSYN: An Integrated Man-Machine System for the Design of Mechanisms", Proceedings of the Fourth Oklahoma State University Applied Mechanisms Conference, Chicago, 1975 (with A. J Rubel).
• "KINSYN: A Minicomputer-Based Interactive Mechanisms Design System", Proceedings, 13th Design Automation Conference, San Francisco, June, 1976 (with A. J. Rubel).
• "Kinematic and Dynamic Design of Mechanisms", presented at the International Symposium on Structural Mechanics Software, College Park, Maryland, June 14, 1974 (invited paper) and published in Shock and Vibration Computer Programs - Reviews and Summaries, SVM-10, Shock and Vibration Information Center, U.S. Dept. of Defense, pp. 337-346, 1975.
• "Bridging the Humanist-Mechanist Gap: Creative Technological Aids for the Disabled", Proceedings, 1976 Conference on Systems and Devices for the Disabled, Boston, June, 1976 (with G. Dalrymple, M. Driscoll, and N. Kamil).
• A General Method for the Kinematic Synthesis and Force-Balancing of Spatial Mechanisms, Doctoral Dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York; University Microfilm, No. 70-11, 322, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 263 pp., (1969).
• "KINSYN PHASE II: A Human Engineered Computer System for Kinematic Design and a New Least-Squares Synthesis Operator", Invited paper, Journal of Mechanism and Machine Theory, Pergamon Press, 1973, Vol. 8, pp.469-478.
• "KINSYN - An Interactive Kinematic Design System", presented at the Third World Congress on Theory of Machines and Mechanisms, September 13-20, 1971, Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia and published in the Transactions of the Congress.
• "Application of an Interactive Computer Graphics System to the Kinematic Design of a Polycentric Knee Joint", invited paper presented at On-Line 72, International Conference on On-Line Interactive Computing, Sept. 3-7, 1972, Brunel Univ., London, England and published in the Transactions of that conference; also presented at the ACM Symposium on Computer Graphics in Medicine, March 9, 1972 held at Point Park College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,and published in the Proceedings of that conference; also invited for publication in Computers in Biology and Medicine.
• "Complete Force Balancing of Spatial Linkages", presented at the Sixth U.S. Congress of Applied Mechanics, Harvard University, June 16, 1970; ASME Paper Number 70-DE-A, Journal of Engineering for Industry, Trans ASME, Volume 93 Series B, No. 2, May, 1971, pp. 620-626, (with G. N. Sandor).
• "KINSYN III: For Design of Planar Linkages", MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, Vol. 99, No. 2, February, 1977 (with A. J. Rubel).
• "Operators for the Kinematic Synthesis of Mechanisms by Stretch-Rotation Techniques", presented at the 11th ASME Mechanisms Conference, November 3, 1970, Columbus, Ohio; ASME Paper Number 70-Mech-79 (with G.N. Sandor).
• "Interactive Linkage Synthesis on a Small Computer", presented at the 1971 ACM National Conference, Aug.3-5, 1971, Chicago, Illinois and published in the Proceedings of the conference; also an invited paper presented at The Second Oklahoma State University Applied Mechanism Conference, October 4-8, 1971, Stillwater, Oklahoma and published in the Transactions of that conference (with W. G. Maurer).
• "Synthesis of the Watt-1 Six-Bar Linkage for Five Position Higher Coupler Motion Correlated with Input Rotations", presented at The Second Oklahoma State University Applied Mechanisms Conference, Oct.4-8, 1971, Stillwater, Oklahoma and published in the Transactions of the conference.
• "The Bicycloidal Crank - A New Four- Link Mechanism", ASME Paper No. 68- Mech-14, presented at the 10th ASME Mechanisms Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, Oct. 10, l968; published in Journal of Engineering for Industry, Transactions of the ASME, Feb., l969, Vol. 91, Series B., No. 1, pp.91-96 (with G.N. Sandor).
• "Kinematic Synthesis of Geared Linkages", Paper No. 1, Applied Mechanisms Workshop and Conference, July 28-Aug. 1, l969, Stillwater,Oklahoma, winner of First Honorable Mention at that Conference and published in the Transactions of that conference; presented by invitation at Academie de la Republique Socialist de Roumanie, Conference Nationale de Mecanique Appliquee, Bucarest, Roumania, and published in the Proceedings of that Conference; presented at an invited lecture at Miskolc Technological University, Hungary, 1969; and published by invitation in The Journal of Mechanisms, Pergamon Press, Volume 5, Number 1, Spring 1970, pp. 59-87 (with G.N. Sandor).
• "Mechanism Design by Computer," Invited Article, Machine Design Magazine, Penton Publishing Co., October 26, 1978, pp. 94-100.
• "Optimal Synthesis of an Eight-Bar Crash Test Device", Proceedings, 1982 Summer Computer Simulation Conference, July 19-21, 1982, pp. 289-292 (with J. Pena and R. Eppinger).
• "Three-Position Precessing Mechanism Synthesis", Cengiz Oren and Roger Kaufman, Proceedings, 7th Applied Mechanisms Conference, Kansas City, MO. and published in Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp 139-148, 1984.
• "Design and Construction of an Analog Punch Card Lighting Control System",Master's Thesis, Yale University School of Drama, 1965 (with P. Dennis Carnine).
• The Bicycloidal Crank - A New Four-Link Mechanism, Master's Thesis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1968.
• "Electromechanical Aids for Handicapped Children", presented at the 28th Annual Conference on Engineering in Medicine and Biology, New Orleans, Louisiana, Sept. 20-24, 1975; abstract published in the Proceedings of that conference.
• "Singular Solutions in Burmester Theory", presented at the 12th ASME Mechanisms Conference, San Francisco, California, October 9-11, 1972. ASME Paper No. 72-Mech-23.
• Introduction to Spatial Kinematics, 2002-2008, On-line PDF notes on spatial mechanisms. (45 Pages.)
• Hartenberg-Denavit Method, 2002, 45 Page on-line PDF notes based on the classic text by R.S. HartenBerg and J. Denavit Kinematic Synthesis of Linkages, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1964.
• Three-Dimensional Kinematics, 2002-2008, On-line PDF notes based in part on lectures by Allen S. Hall, Jr., George N. Sandor, Richard Hartenberg, Ferdinand Freudenstein, Bernard Roth, C.H. Suh, An Tzu Yang, at the Summer Conference on Kinematics Theory and Practice, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, July 11-22, 1966 and on earlier work by Jacques Denavit, Rudolf Beyer,, Joseph Beggs, and others too numerous to mention. (With random embellishments of my own!) (181 Pages.)
• Most of my publications can be found and downloaded from Academia by clicking here.