Will Durfee is professor and director of Design Education in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA. He received the A.B. degree in engineering and applied physics from Harvard University and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His professional interests include the design of medical devices, rehabilitation engineering, advanced orthotics, biomechanics and physiology of human muscle including electrical stimulation of muscle, product design, and design education.