Biomechanics on our Minds

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Elizabeth Russell Esposito who is a biomechanist working for the Department of Defense Extremity Trauma and Amputation Center of Excellence at the Center for Limb Loss and MoBility. We talk about her research on preserving and enhancing mobility in Veterans and others with foot and leg impairments or amputations, what it’s like to work for the department of defense, and the important role team science has played in her career and on the impact of her research. Follow BOOM on Twitter: @biomechanicsOOM Bit of BOOM: 1. Hulfen Zheng and colleagues at Shandong Sport University in China and published in the Journal of Biomechanics in December of 2020. The effect of text-based math task on dynamic stability control during stair descent: https://www-sciencedirect-com.stanford.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0021929020305121 2. 'Normal' Body Temperatures Have Declined: https://theconversation.com/peoples-bodies-now-run-cooler-than-normal-even-in-the-bolivian-amazon-148901 kAbroWPMKm7GsdCDCltd

This Student Voices episode is hosted by Black Biomechanists Association co-founders Kayla Seymore, a Ph.D. student at the University of Delaware, and Dr. Erica Bell, a post-doctoral research fellow at the Mayo Clinic. Many great collaborations are born during the shared experience of graduate school. In this interview, Kayla and Erica discuss their friendship and the importance of their newly-founded scientific organization for Black biomechanists. You’ll also hear their experiences navigating college and advice for any young Black students looking to pursue biomechanics.

In this episode, we were so excited to talk with the co-founders of the International Womxn in Biomechanics (IWB) group, Ana Ebrahimi and Jayishni Maharaj. IWB is a peer support group for early-career womxn in biomechanics. They teach us about the mission of this new group, why it's so needed in the field, and what they have planned for the future. Follow IWB on Twitter @IntWomxnBiomech and join IWB by visiting their website (https://intlwomxninbiomech.wixsite.com/intlwomxninbiomech) under “become a member”.

In this episode, we had the pleasure of speak with Dr. Helen Bayne lecturer, researcher, and sports scientist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. We covered a range of topics from how she blends her positions as a researcher, a professor and a consultant, and how her beginnings as a gymnast and coach have informed her journey. We gain insights on working with athletes to improve their performance and overall health and potential pitfalls of working with wearables. Finally we learn from her unique perspectives working in South Africa and co-founding the South African Society of Biomechanics. Follow Helen on Twitter: @HelenBayneZA Helen's website: https://www.helenbayne.com/ Follow the South African Society of Biomechanics on Twitter: @Biomech_SA South African Society of Biomechanics website: https://biomechsa.wordpress.com/ Follow BOOM on Twitter: @biomechanicsOOM

Learn about baseball biomechanics with three biomechanists in Major League Baseball. Bryson Nakamura is with the Milwaukee Brewers, Ben Hansen is with the Chicago White Sox's, and Ethan Stewart is with the Baltimore Orioles. This episode is hosted by ISB Student Representative, Megan Stewart. Follow the American Society of Biomechanics on Twitter: @Biomec_Baseball Follow BOOM on Twitter: @BiomechanicsOOM

Want to learn about remote #teaching in #biomechanics while on the run? A past webinar co-hosted by the Brazilian and South African Biomechanics Societies is now available. Webinar | Biomechanics without borders: Teaching biomechanics in Brazil and South Africa Programação: Palestra Dr Sarah Breen, Northern Michigan University, "Active learning in online classes: getting in sync with your students" Mesa redonda Dr Andrew Green, University of Johannesburg, "Qualitative movement analysis using mobile devices" Dr. Andre Gustavo de Andrade, Universidade Federal de Minhas Gerais, "Kinematics analysis: do it by yourself" Dr Mark Kramer, North West University, "Using open-source software for quantitative kinematic analysis" Dr. Felipe P Carpes, Universidade Federal do Pampa, "Adding asynchronous activities to the remote learning" Check it out on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeH_icm_GGqTo0oxeek2mrzypVzFBiv66

Get ready for an awesome conversation with Dr. Matt Trudeau, who is Sr. Manager of Future Concepts at Brooks Running and a respected leader in the fields of biomechanics and ergonomics! He is also the industry representative of the Footwear Biomechanics Group of the International Society of Biomechanics. We cover the future of running research including habitual motion and Run Signature from Brooks Running. You won't want to miss his insights about effective collaborations between industry and academia!

In our very first live episode, we talk with Professor Michelle Sabick during the 2020 Congress of the American Society of Biomechanics. We talk about her path to and responsibilities as the Dean of the Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology, at Saint Louis University and the President of the American Society of Biomechanics. We also discuss the transformation of engineering education and how we can continue to improve this in the future.

In this episode, we talk with prosthetist Tom Cutler (Limb.itless LLC) and discuss the importance of understanding and using different mechanical systems in biomechanics to improve quality of life for people with prosthetics. We also discuss Tom’s career, and the importance of being open to different paths, as he says "being a rudder to navigate your boat" through your own journey. We end with one of our favorite topics, failure, and Tom talks about the importance of being wrong.

This Student Voices episode is hosted by Loay Al-Salehi and Emily Bliven, PhD students in the Orthopaedic Injury Biomechanics Lab at the University of British Columbia. This episode includes an interview with three researchers in the field of injury biomechanics: Dr. Pierre Guy, Dr. Peter Cripton, and Dr. Gunter Siegmund. In this interview, Loay and Emily introduce injury biomechanics as a topic and navigate the interdisciplinary aspects of working in such a field. Dr. Guy is an orthopaedic trauma surgeon who researches hip fracture injury biomechanics with Dr. Cripton, a mechanical engineering professor and researcher. Dr. Siegmund is a lead engineer at MEA Forensic and collaborates with Dr Cripton in studying automotive and neck-related injury biomechanics. The three discuss how the fields of medicine, forensics, engineering, and teaching all come into play as necessary and collaborative components of injury biomechanics research. Topics range from personal pathways to current careers, the use of human surrogates, future technologies, principles fundamental to injury biomechanics, and examples of different professions that are integral to successful collaboration in the field.

In this episode, we have a fun conversation with Professor Dan Lieberman, a paleoanthropologist at Harvard University. We talk running biomechanics, evolution, and mischaracterizations of the Tarahumara culture. _______ Bits of BOOM: - Running in Tarahumara (Rarámuri) Culture: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/708810 - Grazing hell: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/13/goats-escape-san-jose-video?CMP=share_btn_link - The Joy of Movement, Kelly McGonigal

Let's celebrate pride together! Join our conversation with Professor Carolyn Bertozzi and Ph.D. Student Riley Suhar, two amazing scientists that share their stories on being LQBTQ+. Whether you are a teacher, student, LQBTQ+, or an ally, we hope these stories will inspire you to join the movement in making science, and the world, more inclusive. Carolyn Bertozzi - Twitter: @CarolynBertozzi, Email: [email protected] Riley Suhar - Twitter and Instagram: @RileyWillRain

This Student Voices episode is hosted by Nicholas Miller, a first-year graduate student at Marshall University, and includes an interview on the thesis process with Dr. Robert Lynall, a faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. As a first-year master’s student, Nicholas addresses common concerns faced when working on a thesis process. Nicholas and Dr. Lynall discuss recruiting thesis committee members, critical steps in the thesis process, funding, ways to manage time as a graduate student, defending your thesis, and common pitfalls associated with a thesis project. Throughout the interview, Dr. Lynall imparts advice to current or prospective master’s students on how to be successful throughout the thesis process. Nicholas Miller is an M.S. student in the Biomechanics program at Marshall University, and Dr. Robert Lynall is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology of the University of Georgia, as well as the co-director of the UGA Concussion Laboratory and the UGA Biomechanics Laboratory.

Our guest on this episode is Sahana Kukke, who is the Program Director of Neural Engineering and works at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Institutes of Health. She talks about how her career trajectory in biomechanics and academia led her to her current role at the NIH. She also shares perspectives and advice on making important connections that can help shape your path! ----- Bit of BOOM: Let’s take the dog for a gait… Niamh Gill, Crystal Kean, Matthew G.King Gait & Posture Volume 79, June 2020, Pages 1-2 https://www-sciencedirect-com.stanford.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0966636220301053

What is this awesome new biomechanics blog? How can I learn more about it? In a new student voices episode, we talk to the students behind the Biomechanist (Jasper Johns, Jonas Ebbecke, Lasse Hansen, and Matthias Thelen) to answer these questions and more about this new initiative! Find this blog at https://www.biomechanist.net/about-us/ Follow the Biomechanist on Twitter at @Biomechanist_

This Student Voices episode includes interviews from graduate students and faculty from the Center for Human Machine Systems at Cleveland State University. As current graduate students we answered some of the most frequently asked questions by incoming graduate students about choosing the right advisor, how to balance coursework and research, and how to transition from an undergraduate student to a professional graduate colleague. We also discuss some of the milestones that come later in a graduate program – candidacy and writing a dissertation. You’ll also hear from faculty advisors on what they look for in a graduate student, what to expect from an advisor, what an advisor will expect from you, and more. This episode is hosted by PhD student Brittany Sommers and includes interviews with Phd students Derek Wolf, William Zaylor, Jack Schultz, Cameron LaMack; masters student Dana Lorenz; and faculty advisors Dr. Eric Schearer and Dr. Antonie van den Bogert.

While staying at home we compiled a short bonus episode about the biomechanics community's initiatives during COVID-19 and share our own experiences in quarantine.

Lisa MacFadden, director of the Sanford Sports Science Institute, shares her insights on navigating interdisciplinary work. This includes having respect for other areas and a willingness to learn from each other and learning to communicate with people from different fields. We also learn the important difference between statistical significance and clinical or sports performance significance.

In this episode, Brian Umberger, professor of Movement Science and director of the Locomotion Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology, joins us to talk about using experiments and modeling together, peer review, and being the president of the American Society of Biomechanics. We also celebrate National Biomechanics Day during our Bit of BOOM and share our Zoom fails.

On this episode, we talk with Professor Cara Wall-Scheffler who is a professor of biology at Seattle Pacific University. Her work spans sexual dimorphism (where two sexes of the same species exhibit different characteristics beyond the differences in their sexual organs). She talks about how men and women differ with regard to their metabolic cost and walking speed relation. We also talk about faith in science, leading to a discussion of the importance of understanding a variety of perspectives in science, particularly in teaching. She said it best with, “In order to learn you have to feel that your professor cares about you.”

BOOM is happy to support National Biomechanics Day! During NBD, we introduce biomechanics to young people around the world. NBD introduced Biomechanics to over 29,000 highschool students between 2016 to 2019. Let’s add to that total IN A BIG WAY in 2020! In this episode, we talk to the founder of National Biomechanics Day, Paul Devita, to learn what NBD 2020 has in store for us and how to get involved! Join the movement to make Biomechanics the Breakthrough Science of the 21st Century! Learn more and register here: http://thebiomechanicsinitiative.org/registration/

At the University of Sao Paulo, Postdoctoral Fellow, Ricky Watari, has a fun conversation with Professor Isabel Sacco about the upcoming International Foot and Ankle Biomechanics (i-FAB) Meeting. The meeting this year takes place in São Paulo, Brazil on April 5-8. Learn more about the beginning of iFAB, this year's amazing program, and all the benefits for students attending! Follow i-FAB on Social Media: instagram: @ifab2020 facebook: ifab2020 twitter: @sbbiomech www.ifab2020.com #fabman #ifab2020

In this episode, we have the pleasure of talking with the International Society of Biomechanics President, Toni Arndt. He shares the latest initiatives for internationalizing biomechanics and his 5 I's of a good researcher.

In this episode, Priyanka Aggarwal, a physical therapist with a Masters in Musculoskeletal disorders, learns how her background as a Physical therapist, as well as other areas, can transfer into the space of Biomechanics. To help answer that question, and many others, she speaks with Professor Rajiv Ranganathan, Assistant Professor in Kinesiology and Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University, and Fraje Watson, Ph.D. student at UCL, London.

In this episode, we had the pleasure of talking with Nachi Chockalingam, Professor of Clinical Biomechanics and Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine at Staffordshire University in Staffordshire, England. He shares his research on musculoskeletal biomechanics and gait analysis with special interests in scoliosis, foot and footwear biomechanics. We also cover his contributions to regulations and standards in medicine, including the World Health Organization's global standards for prosthetics and orthotics. We appreciate his insight on how we can keep the global impact of our research in mind! Special thank you to Tekscan (https://www.tekscan.com/) for introducing us to Nachi!

In this episode, we interview Professor Chris Haas, Associate Provost and Professor at the University of Florida. He talks about his research on the interplay between the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system, including Parkinson's, and the importance of keeping your research patient-centered. Then we talk with Candace Gaudiani who shares her story with Parkinson's and her incredible outlook on the disease and life. Finally, we talk with doctoral student Caitlyn Kirby who wore a skirt made of rejection letters to defend her dissertation!

PhD Students Nick Bianco and Chris Dembia give us the low down on OpenSim Moco! Moco solves optimal control problems with musculoskeletal models defined in OpenSim, using direct collocation. We learn how it works and new problems we can now solve with it. They also share their experience developing a software toolkit, including insights into what it is like to work on it as a team and how it has fit in the scope of their PhD.

In this episode, Andrew Vigotsky, Biomedical Engineering PhD candidate at Northwestern University takes us through some common mechanical misconceptions in bioengineering and how we can avoid them.

In this incredibly inspiring episode, two amazing athletes, Blake Leeper and Lasse Madsen talk about their stories - Blake is a world record holder in the Paralympics with a goal to compete in the 2020 Olympics and Lasse is a gymnast, athlete, author, and amputee. Watch Blake's video, Let Leeper Run here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4PTYR5GRA8 Check out Lasse's website here: https://www.landingonmyfeet.dk/

How do we make science journals accessible to everyone? In this episode, PhD student Ricky Pimentel and Roger Paxton, Research Project Manager at Children's Hospital Colorado, interview a pioneer of open access for science, Peter Suber. They talk about the beginning, current barriers, and the future of open access.

After a new Journal Jumble segment, we talk with Professor Alena Grabowski of University of Colorado Boulder on her biomechanics research with para-athletes and how we can use science to promote inclusivity in the Olympics. After, we talk with Roland Sigrist the Executive Director of the Organising Committee of the Cybathlon, an international championship for robot-assisted competitors with disabilities, and get an inside scoop on the 2020 Cybathlon.

On the first episode of Student Voices, we learn about what graduate school is all about. Grace Kellaher, a Master's student at University of Florida College of Health & Human Performance, interviews Stanford University Bioengineering PhD student Scott Uhlrich about the best ways to transition to graduate school, advice for navigating graduate school, and things he wished he knew as a beginning gradate student.

Drs. Kate Webster and Tim Hewett talk with BOOM about the important role biomechanics plays in keeping athletes healthy, particularly when it comes to ACL injuries.

In this episode with Julie Steele, we cover all things biomechanics and research - from studying biomechanics of surfing to how to fail fabulously to giving back to local communities.

In Episode 18, BOOM interviews Professors David Shiffman, Holly Bik, and Taija Finni on how to navigate scientific conferences. We talk about networking, fashion, cultivating collaborative atmospheres, recharging, and how to make the most of your experience! David Shiffman: 6:06 Holly Bik: 30:15 Taija Finni: 51:18

In this episode, we talk with May Liu of intuitive surgical. She shares why she loves tackling the difficult, "grey" problems and gives great advice on how to overcome some of the challenges of graduate school.

In this episode of BOOM, we talk with Professor Deanna Gates of the University of Michigan on rehabilitation biomechanics and her work on prostheses and orthotics. She shares her experiences as a biomechanics consultant and rehabilitation work for the military, as well as her motivation for becoming a biomechanist (hint: in a galaxy far, far away...).

In this Episode, we talk with Dr. Sam Hamner on the design process. We also learn about his experiences at a non-profit and his current role at a start-up, Cala Health.

In episode 14, we talk with Associate Professor Thor Besier of The University of Auckland about the Musculoskeletal Atlas Project and the future of wearables! Our Bit of Boom is brought to you by Biomechanics in the Wild (http://sites.nd.edu/biomechanics-in-the-wild/) and we end with our most recent research fails.

How do we stay resilient against unexpected outcomes of science research? On this episode, we talk with Professor Jen Heemstra and Dr. Meredith Henry from Emory University on having a mindset to grow from failure.

Joe Hamill, current International Society of Biomechanics President, talks about his vision for making ISB "truly international". Hear about why he values ISB as a top tier biomechanics society, including it's emphasis on the students.

This month we talk dinosaur biomechanics and the evolution of dinosaur biomechanics. We interview Professor John Hutchinson of the Royal Veterinary College, Professor of Evolutionary Biomechanics. Learn how biomechanists and animators teamed together in the making of Jurassic Park to make sure T-Rex had realistic movements and speeds.

Dr. Deirdre McGhee shares her research on the biomechanics of breast health and her current study to improve the biomechanics of breast cancer survivors after surgery. It is followed with an interview with Dr. Jodi Steel who is a breast cancer survivor, part of Deirdre's study, and also working to improve the challenges that breast cancer survivors are facing.

In this special episode of BOOM, we talk with 3 graduate students on challenges that we face in graduate school and how it affects our mental health.

In this episode, we dive in to titin's role in muscle contraction, followed by an interview with University of Calgary's Professor Walter Herzog who talks about the role of nutrition in osteoarthritis development, who he looked up to as a student in biomechanics, and more. Followed with research fails!

We chat with Professor Jacque Cole on her research on the osteovascular system and its importance to our health. She also talks about what it has been like starting a research lab as a new professor.

In this episode we discuss recent findings in running shoe advantages using statistics and large scale running data. We interview Professor Reuben Govender and Professor Emeritus Gerald Nurick from the University of Cape Town Blast Impact and Survivability Research Unit. Learn the importance of adapting your research to local needs and about current research on blast impacts.

An interview with Professor Steve Collins features the latest research in the field of biomechatronics, with a focus on the design of exoskeletons and their integration into the real world and the future of robotics with biological applications.

In this episode, we speak with Professor Emeritus Mary Rodgers on how to create meaningful mentorships and continue to foster them over time. Also learn about the oldest known prosthesis and tips for conducting an informational interview.

This episode features an interview with Dr. Jill McNitt-Gray on her research on neuromuscular control and dynamics of human movements, including with Olympians. She also discusses the power of collaboration across Universities and disciplines as she begins to tackle a multi-institute biomechanics collaboration.