Kinesiology Department Hosts High School Students for National Biomechanics Day

Kinesiology graduate students apply motion capture sensors to a participant during a demonstration on National Biomechanics Day.

The Department of Kinesiology welcomed students from nearby Holyoke High School on April 12 for their annual celebration of National Biomechanics Day, which celebrates accomplishments in biomechanics and aims to inspire high school students across the country to explore STEM fields after graduating.<_o3a_p>

Kinesiology doctoral students Abby Salvadore, Adam Grimmitt, Ross Brancati and Jonaz Moreno Jaramillo organized the effort, which included tours and demonstrations in the Neuromuscular Biomechanics, Neuromechanics and Biomechanics labs in the Totman Building. They provided hands-on demonstrations of a variety of equipment that is used in the labs daily by UMass Amherst students, including a motion capture system, treadmills, force plates, balance pads and distortion goggles, which allowed the students to learn about balance, force and muscular functions. <_o3a_p>

"It's my favorite part of the day," says Salvadore. "It's so cool to be able to give these students a glimpse of biomechanics and let them experience what it's all about. It's rewarding watching the students have fun and get excited about these activities."<_o3a_p>

The high school students were also given an overview of the research done in each lab. They saw examples of current studies such as examinations of movement patterns among different populations and the testing of running shoes to compare how each pair impacts running performance.<_o3a_p>

"The goal is to expose high school students to biomechanics and give them an understanding of what it is and how all areas of science can help improve the health of all people," says Jaramillo.<_o3a_p>

"The research we do has a lot of applications in sports and sports medicine which a lot of these high school students are interested in," adds Brancati. "National Biomechanics Day is a really cool and unique opportunity for them to see how they can integrate their interests with future college degrees and eventual careers in fields like biomechanics and engineering."<_o3a_p>

The student organizers, all now in their third and fourth years of doctoral study, have been putting on this event for the past three years. <_o3a_p>

"We are at the intersection of doing the research but being young enough to connect with students," explains Grimmitt. "Biomechanics is so applicable to our everyday lives so a day like this allows us to give them tools to communicate that more scientifically. It's awesome that we can do it in this space and have a lot of fun while doing it."<_o3a_p>

All four organizers said they would not be able to put National Biomechanics Day on without the help of other student volunteers from all degree levels in the department - undergraduate, master's and doctoral students.<_o3a_p>

"We'd like to give a shout out to Montgomery Bertschy, Sklyar Holmes, Leah Metsker, Elena Schell, Calder Robbins and Maryam Golmohammadi Qadikolai," says Grimmitt. "We are so thankful of them."<_o3a_p>

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