Loucas S. Louca received his Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, in 1992. He then moved to the University of Michigan where he received his M.S.E. in 1994 and Ph.D. in 1998, both in Mechanical Engineering. He continued to work in the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Michigan as a Research Fellow until 2000 when he joined the research faculty of the Mechanical Engineering department as an Assistant Research Scientist. He was conducting research and advising students in the area of intelligent vehicle system dynamics and control within the Automotive Research Center at the University of Michigan. He then joined the faculty of the University of Cyprus in January 2004 where he is currently an Asscociate Professor. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Society for Modeling & Simulation International (SCS), and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

His research interests and activities lie in the areas of physical system modeling and model reduction of large scale systems, bond graph theory, modeling of automotive systems, robotic systems and haptic interfaces for rehabilitation, human modeling and biomechanics, multi-body dynamics, and computer aided modeling and simulation. He is an active member of the bond graph research community and organizes focused sessions at modeling related conferences. More specifically, his research focuses on the following two themes: Physical System Modeling: The development of systematic procedures for generating efficient yet accurate dynamic system models for use in the control and design of dynamic systems. The procedure of dynamic system modeling is enhanced with the use of modeling metrics and algorithms that assist engineers in selecting the physical phenomena that contribute the most to specific system dynamic responses. This approach reduces the time and cost for developing models of dynamic systems, and therefore enables engineers to focus on the more critical issues of design and control. Rehabilitation Systems: The development of novel and interactive robotic systems for the functional rehabilitation and evaluation of the upper limbs of people with neurological diseases. The resulting methodologies are implemented in haptic interface devices, through which the user can manipulate virtual objects that are modeled with realistic physical and interactive properties. Applied therapeutic forces are designed in order to optimize the benefits of neuroplasticity. Such rehabilitation systems can increase user motivation and make therapy sessions enjoyable, thus increasing even more the efficiency of a rehabilitation system. The advantages of haptic interfaces are also used for the assessment of upper limb motion through objective and quantitative metrics.