Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland, Australia, 2001
  • M.Sc., Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland, Australia, 1994
  • B.Sc., Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland, Australia, 1991
Academic Appointments
  • Adjust Professor, School of Health and Life Sciences, University of Ballarat (Federation University), 2005-2006.
Professional Honors
  • Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Bioengineering, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 2001
  • Chair, American College of Sports Medicine, Biomechanics, 2011
  • Executive Council, International Society of Biomechanics, 2011-2015
Professional Affiliations
  • National Consumer Technology Association (voting member)
  • American Society of Biomechanics (member)
  • American College of Sports Medicine (fellow)
  • International Society of Biomechanics (member)

Dr. McLean's areas of expertise include injury biomechanics, gait and locomotion and human performance assessment and modification, publishing extensively in each of these fields. He has more than two decades of experience in analyzing and countering injury mechanisms via a combination of human experimentation, cadaveric and computational modeling approaches.  

In particular, Dr. McLean has targeted joint and soft tissue injuries and resultant disease risk in response to dynamic high impact loading scenarios. His related research foci include sports-specific joint injury mechanisms and prevention, high-impact soft tissue mechanical analyses and lower limb anatomical and neuromechanical adaptations to loads across the lifespan. Through this work, he has obtained extensive expertise in utilizing state-of-the-art 3-D motion analysis techniques, wearable inertial sensor technologies and integrated 3-D imaging and computational (Finite Element) modeling methods.

Dr. McLean also has considerable expertise in applying state-of-the-art wearable technologies to the optimization of human movement and performance within a variety of clinical, sporting and military settings. His strengths in this area lie specifically in the ability to interpret and distil the often large and unique data sets derived from these technologies into easily understood baseline metrics that successfully characterize and can be used to improve key performance outcomes.

Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. McLean was the Director of Human Innovation Research at Fitbit, where he derived and lead a number of key research initiatives focusing on characterization and improvement of wearable product accuracies and performance on a global scale. He was also a Professor at the University of Michigan, where he drove a number of high-profile research studies geared towards human performance optimization and injury assessment and prevention within naturalistic military and sports environments. During his tenure at Michigan, Dr. McLean gained considerable teaching experience in the areas of biomechanics, imaging and computational analysis and modeling, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He initially was a Project Staff Scientist and the Director of Sports Health and Orthopedic Rehabilitation at the Cleveland Clinic, where he was the team biomechanical consultant for Cleveland's professional sporting teams.