Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Maryland Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle Baltimore, MD 21250
Education
Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1983
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, 1978
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Technion Haifa Israel, 1976
Employment History
| 2008-2010 | Kauffman Fellow, College of Engineering and Information Technology, UMBC |
| 2001-2018 | Professor, Mechanical Engineering, UMBC |
| 1995-2001 | Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, UMBC |
| 1989-1985 | Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, UMBC |
| 1984-1989 | Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University |
| 1983-1984 | Lecturer, Department of Electrical Engineering, Northeastern University |
| 1982-1984 | Control Engineer, Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation, Boston |
Honors and Awards
| 2006 | INNOV’SPACE award for StepMetrix (StepMetrix inventor) |
| 2006 | AE50 award ASABE for StepMetrix (StepMetrix inventor) |
| 2005 | Wisconsin Small Business Innovation award for StepMetrix as the Innovative product of the dairy industry |
| 2003 | Honorable Mention Paper Award, ASAE |
| 2002 | Innovator of the Year, The Daily Record |
| 2001 | Outstanding Research Award, College of Engineering & Information Technology, UMBC |
| 2000 | Outstanding Teaching Award, College of Engineering & Information Technology, UMBC |
| 1980 | Certificate of Recognition, NASA |
Research Interest
The research in the animal wellbeing laboratory focuses on relating locomotion abnormalities to neurological diseases and injuries. The resultant mathematical models are used to develop new diagnostic technology that detects the presence and assesses the severity of (a)lameness in dairy cows, (b) muscular injury in animals and humans, and (c) neurological diseases that result in abnormalities in the locomotion system of animals and humans. The developed methodology has successfully diagnosed genetic (ALS) and environmental (Parkinson’s) disease models, as well as temporal dysfunctions of the locomotion system due to injury or lameness.
Classes Taught at UMBC
| ENES 110 | Statics | |
| ENME 482L | Vibrations and Control Laboratory | |
| ENME 403 | Automatic Control Theory | |
| ENME 475 | Robotics – Kinematics and Dynamics |
Selected Publications
Liu, J., Dyer, R.M., Neerchal, N.K., Tasch, U., & Rajkondawar, P.G. Vertical limb movement variables, locomotion score, compensatory load redistribution and predicted probability of lameness in lame dairy cows. Submitted to Journal of Dairy Science, Oct 2009.
Narayanan, P., Rostamian, R., Tasch, U., Lefcourt, A. M., & Kim, M.S. Rolling dynamics of an inhomogenous ball on an inclined track. Submitted to Journal of Applied Mechanics, Dec 2008.
Tang, W., Lovering, R. M., Roche, J. A., Bloch, R. J., Neerchal, N. K., & Tasch, U. (2009). Gait analysis of locomotory impairment in rats before and after neuromuscular injury. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 181, 249-256.
Tang, W., McDowell, K. Limsam, M., Yarowsky, P., Neerchal, N.K., & Tasch, U. (2010). Locomotion analysis of Sprague-Dawley rats before and after injecting 6-OHDA. Behavioural Brain Research, 210, 131-133.
Tang, W., Tasch U., Neerchal, N.K., Zhu, L., & Yarowsky, P. (2009). Measuring early pre-symptomatic changes in locomotion of SOD1-G93A rats – a rodent model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 176(2), 254-262.
Lefcourt, A.M., Narayanan, P., Tasch, U. Rostamian, R., Kim, M.S., & Chen, Y.R. (2008). Algorithms for parameterization of dynamics of inertia-based apple orientation. Transactions of the ASABE, 24(1), 123-129.
Narayanan, P., Lefcourt, A.M., Tasch, U., Rostamian, R., Grinblat, A. & Kim. M. S. (2008). Theoretical analysis of stability of axially-symmetric rotating objects with regard to orienting apples. Transactions of the ASABE, 1(4), 1353-1364.
Narayanan, P., Lefcourt, A.M., Tasch, U., Rostamian, R., & Kim. M.S. (2008). Orientation of apples using their inertial properties. Transactions of ASABE, 51(6), 2073-2081.
Dyer, R.M., Neerchal, N.K., Tasch, U., Wu, Y., Dyer, P., & Rajkondawar, P.G. (2007). Objective determination of claw pain and its relationship to limb locomotion score in dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science, 92, 2539-2550.
Zhang, D., Arola, D., Reprogel, R., Zheng, W., Tasch, U., Dyer, R.M. (2007). A method for characterizing the mechanical behavior of hoof horn. Journal of Materials Science, 42, 1108-1115.
Rajkondawar, P.G., Liu, M., Dyer, R.M., Neerchal, N.K., Tasch, U., Lefcourt, A.M., Erez, B., & Varner, M.A. (2006). Comparison of models to identify lame cows based on gait and lesion scores, and limb movement variables. Journal of Dairy Science, 89, 4267-4275.
Tasch U., & Rajkondawar, P. G. (2005). The development of a Soft SeparatorTM for a lameness diagnostic system.Journal of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 44, 239-245.