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Ignacio Montoya

@ignacioinmotion

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Neuroengineer Advancing Human Mobility Systems, Neurotechnology & Accessibility to Expand Participation, Independence & Health After Paralysis

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I never imagined my lil brother would grow up to become an exoskeleton trainer and one day be the person helping me walk again. ❤️ Life has a way of writing stories we never could have imagined. I’m beyond proud of him, and there’s nothing quite like having your little brother literally covering your back as you work to stand and walk again. My brother, my teammate, my family. ❤️ by @ignacioinmotion

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8 days ago

Day 2 of Training. And the possibilities keep expanding. ♿️🤖

Every step is a reminder that mobility is about so much more than movement. It’s about opportunity. The opportunity to experience life differently, participate more fully, pursue new dreams, and discover possibilities that once seemed out of reach.

For me, this journey has always been about more than walking. It’s about creating greater freedom to move through the world, freedom to pursue what inspires us, and freedom to live life to its fullest.

Because when we expand access to transformative technology, we expand opportunities for people to participate, connect, dream, and thrive.

Freedom to Dream. Freedom to Move. Freedom to Live.

The possibilities are endless. And this is only the beginning.

#FreedomToMove #RoboticMobility #SpinalCordInjury #Neuroengineering #Accessibility FunctionalIndependence Participation QualityOfLife taken in VA Long Beach Healthcare System by @ignacioinmotion

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16 days ago

This is how we begin to change the standard of care for paralysis. And it’s about damn time!

After more than 13 years of paralysis, I’m walking in my own self-balancing robotic exoskeleton, EVE. The robot generates every step, but my body still experiences the movement, upright posture, weight-bearing, and repetitive sensory input that come with walking.

And that matters.

For people living with chronic paralysis, consistent, repetitive, weight-bearing movement offers far more than mobility. It provides opportunities to engage proprioceptive and somatosensory pathways, promote circulation, support cardiovascular health, maintain joint mobility, improve postural positioning, and address some of the secondary complications associated with prolonged immobility.

Repeated sensory input also provides a compelling foundation for studying activity-dependent neuroplasticity, even when movement is entirely robotically generated.

Having experienced EksoNR, Atalante X, and now EVE, I see the immense complementary value of these technologies. Clinical rehabilitation exoskeletons offer adjustable assistance and task-specific training to support active motor engagement when possible. Personal exoskeletons like EVE extend upright mobility beyond the clinic, making these experiences possible in everyday life.

We need both. We need consistent access to meaningful movement, weight-bearing, and sensory input throughout the lifespan of paralysis, not just during rehabilitation.

The goal is bigger than walking. It is maximizing health outcomes, preserving function, supporting neuroplasticity where possible, and expanding functional independence, participation, and quality of life.

The technology exists. Now let’s expand access and change what living with paralysis can look like.

#SpinalCordInjury #ChronicSCI #RoboticMobility #Neuroengineering #Neuroplasticity Exoskeleton RehabilitationEngineering FunctionalIndependence QualityOfLife FreedomToMove taken in VA Long Beach Healthcare System by @ignacioinmotion

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16 days ago

I’m not trying to prove that an exoskeleton works. I’m trying to prove that we can do better for people with paralysis.

Because this isn’t just about walking.

It’s about health, functional capacity, independence, participation, and quality of life.

It’s about being able to participate in life: to move, turn, dance, connect, and share moments like this with my wife.

We shouldn’t measure the future of rehabilitation by how many steps someone can take. We should measure it by how many possibilities those steps create.

Technology isn’t the destination. Participation is.

That’s how we change the standard of care for #paralysis.

#Love + #Faith + #Perseverance = #Hope taken in Georgia Institute Technology by @ignacioinmotion

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2 months ago

Every milestone leads to the next. In the @wandercraft.official exoskeleton, @ignacioinmotion has gone from learning to reduce robotic assistance to practicing the precise micro-movements needed for meaningful real-world activities, even kicking a soccer ball ⚽ . Every step represents months of perseverance, innovation, and rehabilitation, bringing him one step closer to greater independence.

Special thank you to @masfamilyscholarships for all the support in helping make this a reality! by @ignacioinmotion

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3 months ago

A look at @ignacioinmotion in action with the @wandercraft.official exoskeleton 👀 Designed to gradually reduce assistance over time, it encourages more effort with each step and shifts the work back to the user. In this video, the assistance level is set to 0 percent, requiring full active participation.

As support decreases, the focus becomes building strength, control, and consistency through repetition and weight bearing movement. by @ignacioinmotion

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4 months ago

Great to have Ignacio and the research team from Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center at NextStep LA.

Progress happens when we choose community over competition. Bringing together researchers, clinicians, and people living with paralysis helps move the mission forward: Victory Over Paralysis®. Together, we create more opportunities, drive innovation, and strengthen hope for the SCI community. 💙 by @ignacioinmotion

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4 months ago

Grateful to share that my project was selected for FIRST place in the @georgiatech College of Engineering’s FAIR Tech Student Innovation Competition.

What mattered most wasn’t just presenting the idea, it was demonstrating it in real time. Taking this out of the lab and into real environments where accessibility and functional independence actually matter.

The NeuroRobotic Accessibility Corridor (NAC) @ GT started as a concept. Now it’s being recognized as something that can drive real impact on campus and beyond.

My vision is to make Georgia Tech the first university in the world to pilot a NeuroRobotic Accessibility Corridor, using a framework I’ve developed, the Human–Robotic Mobility Accessibility Index (HRMAI), which turns real-world movement into measurable accessibility performance, and establish GT as a national testbed.

Thank you to GT President @cabreraangel for your support and for helping set this path in motion through the introductions to my now PI Dr. Cassie S. Mitchell.

This is about continuing to push the work forward and raising the standard for what’s possible in neurorehabilitation and accessibility.

A lot more to come.

Appreciate everyone who’s been part of this. Hilda Torres Kristopher Ferrara, PT, DPT Maegan Tucker Sophie Pellas @masfamilyscholarships taken in Georgia Institute Technology by @ignacioinmotion

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6 months ago

Back @georgiatech as a first year BME PhD student, walking the NeuroRobotic Accessibility Corridor (NAC) in a self-balancing exoskeleton.

This was the last place I walked the night of my spinal cord injury 13 years ago before getting on my motorcycle and heading home, so being back here doing this carries more weight than I can fully put into words.

To me, this is what real progress looks like. Not confined to a lab or clinic, but movement in real, everyday environments where functional independence actually matters. Repetition is what drives recovery, and that only happens when neurorehabilitation is built into daily life.

This work is about more than movement. Weight bearing for bone health. Sensory input for proprioception. Coordinated physiological engagement that supports thermoregulation, metabolic activity, and overall function after paralysis.

It’s about shifting from passive care to active participation and pushing back against the decline that comes with inactivity.

We’re building toward a future where exoskeletons aren’t experimental, they’re integrated, intuitive, and expected. Let’s go. taken in Georgia Institute of Technology by @ignacioinmotion

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6 months ago

Neuroplasticity research at full throttle.

Training with the @wandercraft.official #AtalanteX a hands-free, self-balancing exoskeleton with an articulated ankle and natural gait mechanics that allow for reduced robotic assistance and more active participation from my nervous system.

Paired with reciprocal arm swing using a MyoPro on my left arm, driven by EMG signals translating intent into movement.

At the same time, I’m receiving sub-threshold, noninvasive spinal stimulation to increase the excitability of the neural circuits responsible for locomotion.

This is what continuous neurorehabilitation looks like.

Repetition.
Intent.
Feedback.
Adaptation.

The goal is simple: retrain the nervous system to move again.

With love, faith, and perseverance—nothing is impossible.

#Neuroplasticity #SpinalCordInjury #Neurorehabilitation #Exoskeleton Rehabilitation Wandercraft AtalanteX ParalysisRecovery BiomedicalEngineering taken in Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center by @ignacioinmotion

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7 months ago

This week in Miami is something I’ll carry with me forever.

Being part of the Mas Family Scholarship reminded me of something powerful I’ve always lived by, the freedom to dream. As someone who came to this country from Cuba, that freedom changed the trajectory of my life. This week, being surrounded by a community that believes in me and this mission made that dream even bigger.

I’m incredibly honored and grateful for the support, the friendships, and for being welcomed with an Inter Miami jersey with my name on it. A symbol I’ll carry with pride.

For the past 13 years, I’ve been chasing one purpose: reversing paralysis. But this journey goes far beyond the physical.

It’s about restoring hope. It’s about reclaiming independence. It’s about proving that what once seemed impossible….is not.

Because when you’re given the freedom to dream and the opportunity to pursue it—

With love, faith, and perseverance… nothing is impossible.

This is just the beginning. taken in Trump National Doral Miami by @ignacioinmotion

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7 months ago

by @ignacioinmotion

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7 months ago