Employment
Publications   Skills   Education
March 2001 to present
Rady Children's Hospital San Diego
Orthopedic Biomechanics Research Center
Senior Research Associate
· Conduct orthopedic and biomechanics research, provide engineering support for the same.
· Design and build testing equipment, plan and conduct orthopedic & biomechanics studies, perform data analysis, design tools & methods for biomechanics analysis, prepare manuscripts & presentations, attend conferences to present research work.
· MTS 858 Mini Bionix testing system
· Mathworks MATLAB, National Instruments Labview.
· Qualisys QTrac motion capture system.
 
June 2001 to December 2001
SDSU Bioengineering Laboratory
Student Research Assistant
· Utilized 3-D ultrasound to examine lapine cardiac mechanics.
· Wrote image analysis software with Matlab.
 
July 1999 to January 2001
PowderJect Technologies
Laboratory Technician, Device Development Group
· Development lab for needle-less injection devices.
 
November 1998 to May 1999
Molecular Dynamics
Quality Control, DNA Sequencer Manufacturing

 
 

Selected Publications
Employment   Skills   Education
Full listing on Pubmed.

Mohamad F, Oka R, ... Newton P. Biomechanical comparison of the screw-bone interface: optimization of 1 and 2 screw constructs by varying screw diameter. Spine. 2006 Jul 15;31(16):E535-9.

Schwartz A, Oka R, Odell T, Mahar A. Biomechanical comparison of two different periarticular plating systems for stabilization of complex distal humerus fractures. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 2006 Jun 16

White KK, Oka R, ... Garfin SR. Pullout Strength of Thoracic Pedicle Screw Instrumentation: Comparison of the Transpedicular and Extrapedicular Techniques. Spine. 2006 May 20;31(12):E355-E358.

Mahar A, Kim C, Oka R, Odell T, ... Garfin S. Biomechanical Comparison of a Novel Percutaneous Transfacet Device and a Traditional Posterior System for Single Level Fusion. J Spinal Disord Tech. 2006 Dec;19(8):591-594.

Mahar AT, Brown DS, Oka RS, Newton PO. Biomechanics of cantilever "plow" during anterior thoracic scoliosis correction. Spine J. 2006 Sep-Oct;6(5):572-6. Epub 2006 Jul 24.

Early S, Mahar A, Oka R, Newton P. Biomechanical comparison of lumbosacral fixation using Luque-Galveston and Colorado II sacropelvic fixation: advantage of using locked proximal fixation. Spine. 2005 Jun 15;30(12):1396-401.

Oka R, Mahar A, Impelluso T. A Computational Approach to Orthopedic Implant Design Optimization. Symposium on Computational Methods in Orthopaedic Biomechanics. Chicago Illinois. March 2006.

Schwartz A, Oka R, ... Mahar A. Biomechanical Comparison of Two Different Periarticular Plating Systems for Stabilization of Complex Distal Humerus Fractures. Orthopedic Research Society Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. March 2005.
Goodwin R, Oka R, ... Newton P. Retrograde Nailing of Comminuted Fractures in a Pediatric Sized Synthetic Femur Model: Differences Related to Fracture Position. Orthopedic Research Society Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. March 2005.

Bagheri R, Oka R, ... Akbarnia BA. "Biomechanical Comparison of Different Anchors (Foundations) in the Pediatric ISOLA Dual Rod Instrumentation without Fusion (Growing Rod) Technique" Orthopedic Research Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, March 2004.
Mahar A, Oka R, Early S, Newton P. "Biomechanical Comparison of the Luque-Galveston and Colorado II Methods for Sacropelvic Fixation." Orthopedic Research Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 2003.

Oka R, Padget M, Mahar A. "Biomechanical Comparison of the Triage Medical Helical Compression Screw to the Synthes Screw for Use in Lower Extremity Fractures and Fusions," World Congress of Biomechanics IV, Calgary, Canada, August 2002.
Mahar A, Oka R, Whitledge J, Cappello JR, Powell J, McArthur T, Cappello J. "Biomechanical Efficacy of a Protein Polymer Hydrogel for Inter-Vertebral Nucleus Augumentation and Replacement," World Congress of Biomechanics IV, Calgary, Canada, August 2002.

Skills
Employment   Publications   Education
3-D CAD with ProEngineer, SolidWorks.
FEA with LSTC LS-DYNA, MSC.Marc Mentat 2003, PTC ProMechanica.
MTS materials testing system operation, Testware, Teststar, including sensor integration (position sensors, load cells, strain gages, thermocouples)
Preparation of animal and human cadaveric tissue, knowledge of musculoskeletal anatomy.
OpenOffice, MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access.
MS Windows, Apple Mac OS, Unix & Linux.
Programming in Mathworks Matlab, C & National Instruments Labview.
Fluent in Japanese.

 

Education
Employment   Publications   Skills
San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
M.S. Mechanical Engineering

Selected Coursework:
· Finite Element Method/Analysis
· Computational Methods: Multi-body Dynamics Analysis
· Biomaterials
· Biomechanics
· Mechanics of Materials
· Computational Methods for Optimization
· Advanced Machine Design (Solid Mechanics)
· Fluid Mechanics
· Neurobiology
· Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology I, II
· Biomedical Instrumentation
· Control Systems
· Non-Metallic Materials
· Heat & Mass Transfer

Graduate Student Board
Student Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Student Member, IEEE, Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society

University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
B.A. Rhetoric, minor in Business Administration
Foreign Exchange Student to Hitotsubashi University, Faculty of Commerce, Tokyo, Japan

 

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