As a software engineer at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Edward Birrane ’96, is part of the exciting Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 (RP2009) team developing a prosthetic arm that will improve the lives of soldiers injured in the line of duty. Contracted by the government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), two prototypes of the limb have been introduced, the most recent one this fall.

These limbs use a cutting-edge surgery known as “Targetted Re-innervation” to map existing residual nerves into larger muscle areas, such as the pectoral muscle. As patients attempt to move their limb, these nerves continue to fire and cause the muscle in which they were embedded to twitch. This activity can be captured using standard EMG electrodes, processed by software and used to decode patient intent to control a mechatronic limb.
 
“There are a lot of things people can do in their career that will make them money, but it is rare to find something that will make a social impact,” says Birrane. “I love the fact that my work contributes to society.”

Prosthetic limb prototype

Birrane, who led the software team for the latest prototype, attributes his success to his Loyola education. “I think I’m a better software engineer because of the personal attention I got there,” says Birrane, who majored in computer science and has worked at APL for the past four years. “Loyola is a very creative place to be. I felt intellectually productive there.”

As a software engineer at APL, he has participated in many advanced initiatives, including conducting research through the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and implementing critical spacecraft software.

Prior to developing the prosthetic arm prototype, Birrane worked on the thermal control for the New Horizons’ spacecraft for NASA’s first mission to Pluto. At Pluto, New Horizons must operate on the same amount of energy as a 200W lightbulb. This includes operating all onboard computers and science instruments and the heaters that keep the spacecraft from freezing in the vacuum of deep space. Launched in January 2006, the spacecraft continues to operate successfully and has most recently recorded data and images of Jupiter and its moons.  Its progress can be seen at pluto.jhuapl.edu.

New Horizons spacecraft approaching Pluto (photo courtesy Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute)

“People don’t need to know about the technical details to get excited about what we do,” explains Birrane. “I love the work I do at APL; I love that I have the ability to apply technical solutions in a creative way.”

He credits Loyola’s liberal arts program with providing him a strong foundation in both the arts and sciences, allowing him to be creative in his technical work. “I felt that the education was a good combination of left brain and right brain activity,” says Birrane.

Birrane may have majored in computer science, but his initial academic interests were in English and writing., which he still finds essential to his work. “You realize how important a broad education is in the technology field when people don’t know how to write,” he says. “So much opportunity is lost.”

In addition to supporting his challenging career, Birrane’s Loyola education plays a significant role in his personal life, especially since his marriage to his wife, Linda, and the birth of his daughter, Kaitlyn.

“The Jesuit ideals have been important to me, especially when I have a 1-year-old – this sponge – that I have the responsibility to create into a decent and caring person,” says Birrane.  He continually draws from his ethics and theology classes, occasionally referring to his old textbooks and notes, “Sometimes, you don’t see the full value in this instruction until you have had more life experiences than you did in college.”

Birrane still maintains a regular connection with Loyola as a blackbelt in the JuJitsu club, which meets at the FAC three times a week.