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From the PresidentIrene Davis
American Society of BiomechanicsNewsletter
Vol. 22 June 2009 No. 1www.asbweb.org
As I write this, many of you are recovering from thelargest grant writing frenzy in the history of science.Nearly every colleague I spoke with was vying for apiece of the Stimulus Pie. The Challenge Grant programalone received over 20,000 applications for the 200grants that will be awarded. Thus, only the top 1% ofapplicants will be celebrating. On one hand, this isdaunting and discouraging. However, if competition isgood for business, it is good for science as well. TheRecovery Act of 2009 has mobilized scientists acrossthe United States to forge new collaborations, createnew initiatives and build new infrastructures. It is hardnot to become energized by it all.
Speaking of being energized, your Executive Board hasbeen hard at work this past year. We are working ona number of new initiatives related to our StrategicPlan. Regarding the annual meeting, we are partneringwith ISB to host our first International ScientistPresentation this year. We are also seeking to increaseour diversity by holding our first Diversity Luncheon atthis year’s meeting. The idea of Fellowship status inASB recently received widespread support from themembership, and we are developing the criteria for thisstatus. For our student members, we have developeda reciprocal agreement with the Society for Integrativeand Comparative Biology (SICB) where ASB andSICB will each provide fee waivers for 5 students toattend their respective meetings. We have also createda new student travel award to help defer the cost forstudents to attend the annual meeting. The entireboard is currently working to solicit corporatesponsorship to support student travel awards and studentresearch awards. We are also beginning to address theareas of Standards and Best Practices and EthicalConduct.
In terms of Advocacy, we are developing a registry ofreviewers for the Center for Scientific Review. We
are seeking experienced scientists who have receivedmajor federal funding and are knowledgeable about theNIH review process to serve as NIH reviewers. Pleasecontact me at [email protected] if you are interested.
In order to further raise funding agencies’ awarenessof priorities for biomechanics research funding, ameeting is being planned at the University of Delawarefor June of 2010. The meeting, Biomechanics inMovement Science:Building Transdomain Bridges,will feature Rick Lieber, Scott Tashman, Ton van denBogert and David Tulsky as keynote speakers. Thiswill be a working meeting, modeled after the 1996 NIH-sponsored workshop on Gait Analysis in RehabilitationMedicine. Participants will develop and prioritizerecommendations for biomechanics research areaswhich cross research domains at the cellular/tissue,joint, limb, whole body and community participationlevels. These recommendations will be submitted toNIH to serve as a roadmap for future funding.
The Executive Board will be changing quite a bit thisyear. The Secretary-Treasurer position will be dividedinto two positions. We will be electing a new Secretarywho will assume the responsibilities of the currentMembership Chair position, from which Max Kurz willbe stepping down. Andy Karduna will be leaving theCommunications Chair position, and Zong Ming Li fromthe University of Pittsburgh will be taking his place.We will also be choosing a Treasurer-Elect this year.This has been an incredibly hard-working Board and Ithank them all for their generosity of time and service.
Our annual meeting is only a few months away. Therewas an overwhelming response to the meeting withover 500 abstracts being submitted. I am particularlyexcited to preside over this meeting being held at myalma mater. The program and meeting chairs havebeen working tirelessly to provide a stimulating meetingwith great social events. Penn State University lasthosted ASB in 1979 and thus it will be a special 30-yearanniversary event. It is sure to be a meeting toremember. I hope to see many of you there!
Page 2 ASB Newsletter
ASB NEWSLETTERvolume 22, number 1
Newsletter AdvertisingThe Editorial Board invites various businessesand corporations that have products or servicesof interest to members of the Society to advertisein the ASB Newsletter. Advertising space mayalso be purchased for job postings or other specialannouncements.
The current advertising rates are as follows:
1/4 page $1001/2 page $200full page $400back page $600
If you are interested in learning more aboutadvertising in the ASB newsletter, please e-mail William Ledoux at:
ASB InvolvementIf you are interested in becoming more active inthe Society (e.g., serving on a committee orchairing a conference session), contact MaxKurz ([email protected]), MembershipCommittee Chair, with your name, address,phone/fax number, email address, and yourdesired involvement. This information will beincluded in a database which is periodicallyupdated and distributed to the Executive Board.
In this issue ...page
From the President 1Student’s Corner 4Education Committee 7Secretary/Treasurer 9Past-President 10Borelli Award 10Hay Award 11Research Travel Grant 2008 11Annual Meeting 2009 12A View From the Blue 13Calendar of Events 15
Back Copies of Newsletter:
All previous ASB newsletters have beenconverted into pdf documents and arearchived on the ASB website:
www.asbweb.org/html/newsletters/newsletters.html
Editorial BoardEditor & LayoutMichelle [email protected]
Calendar & AdvertisingWilliam [email protected]
Page 4 ASB Newsletter
Student’s CornerBecky Fellin
The summer is rapidly approaching, which meansthe annual ASB meeting is right around the corner.This year the American Society of BiomechanicsAnnual Meeting will be held at The PennsylvaniaState University from August 26-29, 2009. Severalnew, popular events from past years year will beheld again as well as a few new events. Thisconference should be great experience for studentsand there are a wide variety of activities planned.
A new program this year will be a Diversity Luncheon,for both students and professionals of allbackgrounds. The informal luncheon will be held onThursday, August 27, 2009. The luncheon will focuson discussing important aspects women andunderrepresented minorities should know about theircolleagues, mentors, institutions and fields ofresearch. Additionally, the luncheon will include anopen discussion of what strategies did and did notwork to get ahead in research and academia.
The Women in Biomechanics lunch will be held onFriday, August 28, 2009. It will be an ideal time forfemale students to network with other femalemembers. Each table will have a senior femalefaculty member to facilitate small group discussions.I will email the students a brief description of thefaculty members who will be in attendance to guidestudents in selecting a faculty member to sit with.We will also discuss whether the Women inBiomechanics luncheon should be continued or if itshould be combined with the Diversity Luncheon.
As with last year at NACOB, we will be holding aroundtable mentoring session with a pizza dinner onThursday evening prior to the night out on the town.This session is different from the mentor programrun every year for ASB student members (see nextparagraph for more details). There will be aboutfive different topics with one or two mentors foreach topic. These topics will include CV building,collaborative research, job searching and contractnegotiation, developing a research program, family/
work balance. In this informal setting, students willhave the opportunity to have numerous discussionswith experts in biomechanics.
Another program that will be continued again thisyear is the mentor program. In this program, studentsare paired with a senior scientist. The goal is toencourage interaction between students and seniorscientists in an informal setting to discuss careergoals, research, or even life after graduate school.If you are interested in participating, please emailme ([email protected]) by June 19 with informationon your area of interest, and if there is a particularmentor you would like to be paired with. I will domy best to match students and scientists with similarbackgrounds.
As the ASB meeting gets closer, be on the lookoutfor more emails from me. I hope to see everyone inAugust at Penn State!
Volume 22, No. 1 Page 5
The Annual Meeting for the
American S Biomechanics
Page 6 ASB Newsletter
PresidentIrene DavisUniversity of DelawareNewark, DE 19716Phone: (302) 831-4263Email: [email protected]
Past-PresidentRodger KramUniversity of ColoradoBoulder, CO 80309-0354Phone: (303) 492-7984Email: [email protected]
President ElectThomas BuchananUniversity of DelawareNewark, DE 19716Phone: (302) 831-2401Email: [email protected]
Secretary/TreasurerPaul DeVitaEast Carolina UniversityGreenville, NC 27858Phone: (252) 737-4563Email: [email protected]
Program ChairSteven McCawIllinois State UniversityNormal, IL 61790Phone: (309) 438-3804Email: [email protected]
Meeting ChairJinger GottschallThe Pennsylvania State UniversityUniversity Park, PA 16802Phone: (814) 867-2318Email: [email protected]
ASB Executive Board 2008–2009Education Committee ChairNick StergiouUniversity of Nebraska OmahaOmaha, NE 68182-0216Phone: (402) 554-3075Email: [email protected]
Membership Committee ChairMax KurzUniversity of Nebraska Medical CenterOmaha, NE 68198-5450Phone: (402) 559-9599Email: [email protected]
Program Chair ElectDarryl ThelenUniversity of Wisconsin-MadisonMadison, WI 53706Phone: (608) 262-1902Email: [email protected]
Communications Committee ChairAndy KardunaUniversity of OregonEugene, OR 97403Phone: (541) 346-0438Email: [email protected]
Newsletter EditorMichelle SabickBoise State UniversityBoise, ID 83725-2075Phone: (208) 426-5653Email: [email protected]
Student RepresentativeBecky FellinUniversity of DelawareNewark, DE 19716Phone: (302) 831-4646Email: [email protected]
Volume 22, No. 1 Page 7
This academic year is certainly marked by thePresident’s stimulus package which generated anunprecedented grant writing effort across thecountry. For whoever is dealing with the NIH,words like “challenge grant” have become part ofour nightmares or our dreams for a better scientificfuture. Now we are trying to identify some vacationtime to recover!
Make sure that part of your vacation will be at ourannual meeting at Penn State. I have been thereseveral times and the place is marvelous. There is avery nice golf course right next to our meetinglocation, the Nittany Lion Inn, with a beautiful runningpath around it. The campus is also quite vibrant withseveral nice restaurants and bars close by. PennState has a huge cohort of laboratories and strongfaculty that will be involved with our meeting. Thescientific exchange is going to be outstanding. Thisis going to be fun and is certainly needed after theyear of “the challenge grant”. Your batteries will bere-charged just in time to start the next academicyear and another potential tsunami of grant writing!!
Below is some news about the wonderful things thatour society is doing. I am really proud to be yourEducation Committee Chair.
ASB Graduate Student Grand-in-Aid ProgramThe Grant-in-Aid program received nine applicationsthis year. I would really encourage all of ourstudent members to apply since the odds of fundingare pretty good! This year we funded our top fiveapplications. All applications were ranked basedon background (15 pts), significance (15 pts),methods (10 pts), budget (3 pts), and candidate CVand ASB involvement (7 pts).
I would like to thank the committee members fortheir thorough review of the very competitiveapplications. The committee was: David Vaillancourt(University of Illinois at Chicago), EvangelosChristou (Texas A&M University), Jianhua (Jerry)Wu (Georgia State University), Doug Powell(University of Texas at Permian Basin) and two
Education CommitteeNick Stergiou
student representatives, Sara Myers (University ofNebraska Medical Center) and Becky Fellin(University of Delaware). I was solely responsiblefor collecting and tabulating the scores.
The ASB Executive Board is pleased to announcefunding for the following projects:
Elizabeth Russell, University of Massachusetts atAmherst: Can laterally-wedged insoles reducebiomechanical risk factors for knee osteoarthritisin high-risk populations?
Elizabeth Drewniak, Brown University: Effects ofCyclic Loading on the Frictional Properties andWear of Articular Cartilage.
Liang-Ching Tsai, University of Southern California:Will subject-specific anatomic parametersimprove moment prediction of an EMG-drivenknee joint model?
Andrew Sawers, University of Washington:Estimation of the axis of rotation position innon-articulated energy storage and returnprosthetic feet: Implications for prosthetic footefficiency and motor control strategies inunilateral transtibial amputees.
Jooeun Song, University of Southern California:Dynamic postural control during simple andcomplex locomotor tasks in persons with early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
The next deadline for this program is January 15,2010. Details on the application process will beposted on the ASB website and provided in the fallnewsletter.
Regional Student MeetingsThe ASB Executive Board supported two regionalmeetings this year: the South East American Societyof Biomechanics Regional Meeting at the Universityof Florida in Gainesville, FL and the NorthwestBiomechanics Symposium at Washington StateUniversity, in Pullman, WA. It is quite encouragingthat, even in a time of decreased travel andsponsorship funding, these two groups are willing tohost regional meetings and promote biomechanics!
Page 8 ASB Newsletter
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The next deadline for applications to host a regionalmeeting will be September 30, 2010. Maximumfinancial support for a meeting is $2,000 and theASB can support up to four regional meetings eachyear. A regional meeting can be hosted betweenDecember 1st and May 31st, so as not to interferewith the ASB annual meeting. For the immediatefuture, priority will be given to proposals comingfrom regions that have not previously hosted ameeting. Proposals from previously funded regionswill be awarded on a first arrived, first fundedbasis. Sponsors of a new regional meeting shouldspecifically include ASB in the title (i.e. Midwestregional ASB meeting). If you are interested inserving as a host, contact me ASAP and we can getyour application process underway.
Tutorials/Workshops for our Annual Meetingat Penn StateI am especially excited about the tutorials andworkshops that we are going to have at this year’sannual meeting. As the Education Committee Chair,I worked closely with meeting co-chairs JingerGottschall and John Challis to line up an excellentset of topics that will make it worthwhile to arrive
in State College early. So far we have Dan Ferrisfrom the University of Michigan who will give aworkshop with significant hands-on experience onexoskeletons, and Sam Slobounov from Penn Statewho will provide a tutorial on using virtual reality inbiomechanics. We are also planning to offer at leasttwo more tutorials using the tremendous resourcesavailable at Penn State. As you can see, you have toget to the annual meeting early this year to attendthese excellent tutorials. This is an opportunity thatshould not be missed!
It is not too early to plan a tutorial or a workshop forthe 2010 annual meeting. I welcome your submissionof names and topics for potential tutorials for 2010.
ConclusionAs I am trying to finalize another one of these grantopportunities from the stimulus monies, I am thinkingabout all the biomechanists and good friends thatwill flock to State College, the grant writing warstories that we will share, and the scientific ideasthat we will debate. I can’t wait. See you there, andas our Program Chair Dr. McCaw says, “bring acolleague, bring a friend, bring a student”!
Volume 22, No. 1 Page 9
Secretary/TreasurerPaul DeVita
So far, so good…still…amazing. I have now beenthe Secretary-Treasurer for 20 months and theASB is still in business. In fact, business is good, atleast legally speaking. Soon after the Decembernewsletter was released, Edwin Gray, CPA andAssociates of Greenville, NC completed theirreview our financial records. The purpose of thereview was to verify our financial status,expenditures, and records and to also identifyimprovements we can make in our financial records.A financial review is similar to an audit but lessrigorous and less expensive. In fact, the reviewcost $2,822 whereas an audit would have costbetween $5,000 and $7,000. The bottom line fromthe review was this statement:“Based on ourreview, we are not aware of any materialmodifications that should be made to theaccompanying financial statements in order forthem to be in conformity with generally acceptedaccounting principles.” Yahooo! As I notedpreviously, we remain in business.
Of course business is not as good regarding ourinvestments, which should not be news to anyone.As of March 31, 2009, our investment portfoliowith Ameriprise Financial Services totaled$114,249 which was a decrease of 22% over theprevious year. All in all, some might consider thatwe are loosing money at a lower rate than otherorganizations. Our checking account had $33,091as of March 31, 2009. More or less, these fundswill be completely spent through the year on theusual suspect(ed activitie)s including Student Grantsin Aid ($10,000), Research Travel Awards (up to$2,000), research awards given at the annualmeeting (~$4,000), journal subscriptions formembers (~$3,000), and of course the luxuriousvacations provided to the Executive Board members(priceless).
We presently have 423 regular members and 148student members current for 2009. Our 2008 yearend totals were 496 and 232 regular and studentmembers. Most likely we will see a significant
bump in both regular and student members in the nextthree months because some members renew andother people join as the annual conference drawsnear. We also have eight emeriti members who havelifetime memberships. Doesn’t this number seem low?Individuals receive Emeritus membership through theExecutive Board (the Bylaws state: Emeritus Membersshall be those members of the Society who aredesignated Emeritus Members by the Executive Boardof the Society). However, the Executive Board wouldcertainly welcome any recommendations from thegeneral membership for potential Emeritusmembership. Please feel free to recommend to me orMax Kurz, Membership Chair, individuals forEmeritus status in ASB.
The Big News from the Secretary-Treasurer’s officeis the move to redefine this position to that of simplyTreasurer. Along with this change to the ExecutiveBoard we will be changing the Membership Chairposition to the Secretary-Membership Chair position.The ASB membership just finished voting in favor ofthese changes. In short, we will be sliding thesecretarial duties over from the S-T position to themembership chair position and making the Secretary-Membership Chair position an elected position to theExecutive Board. Currently, the S-T position hassubstantially more work than the Membership Chairposition (at least that is image I try to portray, Oh…Iam so overworked…) so the Board is trying to moreevenly distribute the workload among Boardmembers. Also, Max Kurz takes much better minutesthan I do so we get this extra added benefit with thisre-organization…at least as long as Max is on theBoard.
Please visit the ASB website (www.asbweb.org) forinformation on the 2009 Annual Meeting at PennState University, the ASB Northwest BiomechanicsSymposium, and other meetings endorsed by ASB,among other things. Also, please contact me if youhave any questions or problems with your membership.
How surprising, I can write a mostly serious newsletterarticle.
Thank you for your support.
Page 10 ASB Newsletter
Communications CommitteeAndy Karduna
Past-PresidentRodger Kram
Just before the Nobel prizes are announced to themedia, the Nobel Committee places a telephone callto inform the winners. In North America, the calloccurs very early in the morning. As you mightimagine, people are often sound asleep or even stillin the pub. Here is a humorous collection ofanecdotes related to “the call from Stockholm”. Ina similar vein, one of my last duties as Past-Presidentis to oversee the annual ASB awards and I washonored to make a few phone calls to inform thewinners of this year’s awards. Somehow, “the callfrom Boulder” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
This year’s competition for the Borelli award wasexcruciatingly tough. It was very humbling to readthe CVs of the nominees. As most of you know, theBorelli award is the highest honor bestowed by ourSociety. This award recognizes outstanding careeraccomplishment and is based on originality, qualityand depth of the research and the relevance of theirresearch to the field of biomechanics. This year’swinner is Dr. James Ashton-Miller from the Universityof Michigan.
There was also an impressive slate of nominees forthe Jim Hay Memorial Award for Research in Sportsand Exercise Biomechanics. This year’s winner isDoris Miller, Ph.D. who is an emeritus professor atthe University of Western Ontario. Dr. Miller isbest known for her extensive research on thebiomechanics of springboard and platform diving.Her early research on amputee running mechanics isless well known, but remains influential on those ofus trying to understand how Oscar Pistorius can runso fast. Although Dr. Miller claims to be retired, sheis still publishing.
The lectures of Drs. James Ashton-Miller and DorisMiller will surely be highlights of the meeting at PennState. Please see the following columns forsummaries of the contributions each of thesescientists has made to biomechanics, written bytheir award nominators.
Borelli AwardRichard Hughes
James Ashton-Miller, Ph.D., will be awarded the2009 Borelli Award of the American Society ofBiomechanics at the 2009 Annual Meeting.
Since receiving his doctorate from the University ofOslo in 1982, Dr. Ashton-Miller has been veryproductive in musculoskeletal biomechanics. Hehas made significant contributions to a wide range ofareas, including spinal biomechanics, falls in theelderly, aging, and anterior cruciate ligament injuryprevention. Most recently, he has been at theforefront of the application of biomechanics to pelvicfloor disorders in women.
He has published 166 papers in peer-reviewedjournals and mentored many successful youngbiomechanists at the pre- and post-doctoral levels.He served as President of the American Society ofBiomechanics in 2001. He is currently a ResearchProfessor in the Departments of MechanicalEngineering, Biomedical Engineering, and InternalMedicine at the University of Michigan. He alsoholds the Albert Schultz Collegiate ResearchProfessorship at the University of Michigan. Dr.Ashton-Miller gives very clear and enjoyablepresentations; be sure to attend his award lecture atPenn State this August.
Volume 22, No. 1 Page 11
Hay AwardJill McNitt-Gray
Doris Miller, Ph.D. will be the recipient of the 2009Jim Hay Memorial Award for Research in Sportsand Exercise Biomechanics from the AmericanSociety of Biomechanics.
Dr. Doris Miller is truly a pioneer in biomechanicsand the world leader in diving biomechanics research.As one of the first graduates of the biomechanicsresearch program at Penn State, she used amultisegment dynamic model to test hypothesesabout the flight phase mechanics of a dive, arevolutionary approach for 1970. She is currently aProfessor Emerita at the University of WesternOntario (2000).
Dr. Miller’s research on diving spans four decades.She continues to demonstrate originality and depthin her research as an active member of thePerformance Enhancement Team for USA Divingand as a biomechanist for the Olympic MedalProgram. She has received the most prestigiousawards from the diving community including the2008 Glenn McCormick Memorial Award forOutstanding Contribution to the Sport of Diving.Her vast contributions to sports biomechanics aretruly remarkable, particularly when considering inthe context of limited and inconsistent funding forsports biomechanics.
We have all benefited from Dr. Miller’s leadershipand editorial contributions to the field. Dr. Millerwas a founding member of the American Society ofBiomechanics and served as ASB President (1983-1984). Doris was also a founding member of theInternational Society of Biomechanics and theCanadian Society of Biomechanics. Dr. Miller’scareer and contributions to biomechanics havecontinued to be exceptional and have beenpreviously recognized by both international andnational biomechanics societies.
Be sure to attend her lecture this August at theannual meeting!
Research Travel Grant 2008Fei Liu
In January 2009, I traveled from Columbia, SC, tothe State Key Lab for Manufacturing SystemsEngineering (SKMSE) of Xi’an Jiaotong University(XJTU) in China with the generous financial aid ofthe ASB Research Travel Grant. SKMSE is one ofthe largest national laboratories in China with 57full-time professors and approximately 370 graduatestudents. Professor Dichen Li leads thebiomechanical research group at SKMSE. His groupcooperates with China’s most prestigious medicalcolleges and is focused on design and fabrication ofcustomized knee and dental implants and design andfabrication of tissue scaffolds to repair large bonedefects using rapid prototyping and rapid tooltechniques (RP/RT).
Midlands Orthopaedics, p.a. is a partnership of 13fellowship-trained physicians committed to accurate,efficient, and compassionate diagnosis, treatment,and follow-up care of the entire musculoskeletalsystem. We are very interested in developing ourfirst uncemented mobile bearing Total KneeReplacement System coupled with minimally invasiveinstrumentation and surgical navigation. Thisprosthesis system can help young and active patientsreturn to their normal lives without decreasing theirphysical activities. This is a challenging collaborativeresearch opportunity for two international teams toachieve the goal of improving and preserving qualityof life for patients everywhere.
During the four day visit, I was impressed with theadvanced experimental facility and researchenvironment in SKMSE. I had the opportunity todiscuss potent ia l co l labora t ive researchopportunities with Professor Li and his senior PhDstudents. The travel grant offered me the preciousopportunity to work closely with SKMSE researchteams and Xi’an Jiaotong University. I am a Chinesecitizen who studied in the US and have been workingin the biomechanical field in the US for about 6years. I think that it is a great opportunity forAmerican researchers to gain access to developmentsin the biomechanics field in China.
Page 12 ASB Newsletter
Annual Meeting 2009John Challis & Jinger Gottschall
This year, the ASB annual conference will be held atPenn State University from August 26-29. Theconference venue is the Nittany Lion Inn, which alsooffers accommodations. There will be 135 podiumpresentations running in three parallel sessions, inaddition to three keynotes and award lectures. Therewill also be approximately 400 poster presentations.
Daily Highlights
Wednesday♦ Tutorial from Dan Ferris on robotic
exoskeletons for studying humanlocomotion.
♦ Tutorial from Sam Slobounov on virtualreality environments.
♦ Tours of campus laboratories.♦ Welcome Reception.
Thursday♦ Diversity luncheon.♦ Presentations from the winners of the best
paper awards.♦ Keynote from Bob Sainburg on the neural
foundations of motor lateralization.♦ Poster session with cash bar.♦ Mentor program meeting.♦ Student pub crawl!
Friday♦ Past-Presidents breakfast.♦ Women in science luncheon.♦ The Hay Lecture.♦ Keynote f rom Ki isa Nishikawa on
comparative neuromechanics.♦ Poster session with cash bar.♦ Conference Banquet at Beaver Stadium
(home of the Penn State football team).
Saturday♦ The ASB 5K Challenge.♦ The ASB Business Meeting and luncheon.♦ The Borelli Lecture.♦ ISB sponsored keynote from Ewald Hennig
on athletic footwear.
We look forward to seeing you at the end of August.
Volume 22, No. 1 Page 13
A View From the BlueMichelle Sabick
The two dominating themes from recent weeksseem to be the tanking economy and the potentialswine flu (more appropriately called the H1N1virus) pandemic. Between these two catastrophies,I have heard more media doomsday scenarios thanI can possibly stomach. You really cannot eventurn on the TV, your computer, or your cell phonewithout coming across more dire predictions forour impending doom. The “the sky is falling”contingent have missed one very important fact,however. A crisis can actually be an enormousopportunity, an idea which thankfully doesn’t seemto be lost on the Obama adminstration.
Case in point: I just returned from a fabulousMexican vacation at a resort that was only 15%occupied due to worries about the swine flu. Thefact that so many potential tourists had canceledtheir (probably much needed) vacations due toworries about the swine flu was in some wayshumorous to those of us who had braved the trip.First of all, it turned out not to be a very deadlystrain of the virus. In addition, the area around theresort had not even experienced swine flu problems,and was more than 500 miles from the originaloutbreak location. After all, Mexico is a pretty bigcountry. But, to hear the media tell it, all ofMexico was doomed by the plague of death. So,the fact that most people were not able to discernthe minimal threat posed by the swine flu meant thatmy family and I got to enjoy an incredibly relaxingvacation free of the throngs of tourists that mightotherwise have been there. What many people sawas a crisis turned out to be an excellent opportunity!
The poor economy is certainly affecting all of us inthe biomechanics world. Whether you are a facultymember at a state university or a company CEO,the credit crunch and dwindling state budgets meanthat you are probably being asked to give up someof your normal perks, such as traveling toconferencesor matching contributions to yourretirement account. In addition, you may be facingpotential salary cuts or layoffs of yourself or your
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employees. Although these times are oftendepressing, the true “copers” will be looking foropportunities to find silver linings in the economicoutlook. For example, if you have money to buyequipment or make laboratory renovations, you canget incredibly good deals right now. This is a greattime to get things that you need to equip your lab orto make infrastructure changes that will improveyour productivity later.
Not all sectors of the economy are down, either.First of all, there are more federal funding possibilitiesthan ever. There may also be excellent opportunitiesfor biomechanics researchers in green technologiessuch as energy scavenging, and there is certainly aneed for innovative devices that will help keepmedical costs down. So, although many people arelamenting the death of the US and world economies,there just might be some opportunities forbiomechanists to make a difference and help solvesome of the country’s economic woes. What a greatopportunity!
Page 14 ASB Newsletter
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Volume 22, No. 1 Page 15
American Society of Mechanical Engineers SummerBioengineering Conference
June 17 - 21, 2009, Lake Tahoe, CaliforniaAbstract deadline - pastwww.asmeconferences.org/sbc2009
International Society for Posture and Gait Re-search
June 21 - 25, 2009, Bologna, ItalyAbstract deadline - pastispgr.org/conferences/italy-2009
International Society of BiomechanicsJuly 5 - 9, 2009, Cape Town, South AfricaAbstract deadline - pastwww.isb2009.org
Footwear Biomechanics SymposiumJuly 10 - 12, 2009, Stellenbosch, South AfricaAbstract deadline - past2009.footwearbiomechanics.org
International Society of Biomechanics in SportsAugust 17 - 21, 2009, Limerick, IrelandAbstract deadline - pastwww.isbs2009.com
American Society of BiomechanicsAugust 26 - 29, 2009, State College, PennsylvaniaAbstract deadline - pastwww.conferences.psu.edu/ASB2009
IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology SocietySeptember 2 - 6, 2009, Minneapolis, MinnesotaAbstract deadline - pastwww.embc09.org
Medical Physics and Biomedical EngineeringSeptember 7 - 12, 2009, Munich, GermanyAbstract deadline - oral = past, poster = July 15, 2009www.wc2009.org/World-Congress-2009/Pages/Home.aspx
International Research Council on Biomechanics ofInjury
September 9 - 11, 2009, York, United KingdomAbstract deadline - pastwww.ircobi.org/conference.htm
Calendar of EventsWilliam Ledoux
NOTE: For a more comprehensive international listing, please visit ISB’s website at: isbweb.org/o/content/view/40/57/
European Society of Movement Analysis for Adultsand Children
September 14 - 19, 2009, London, EnglandAbstract deadline - pastwww.esmac2009london.org
International Conference on ComputationalBioengineering
September 16 - 18, 2009, Bertinoro, ItalyAbstract deadline - pastwww.iccb2009.org
Human Factors and Ergonomics SocietyOctober 19 - 23, 2009, San Antonio, TexasAbstract deadline - pastwww.hfes.org/web/HFESMeetings/09annualmeeting.html
Orthopaedic Research SocietyMarch 6 - 9, 2010 New Orleans, LouisianaAbstract deadline - August 31, 2009www.ors.org
American Academy of Orthotists and ProsthetistsMarch 24 - 27, 2010, Chicago, IllinoisAbstract deadline - July 31, 2009www.oandp.org/meeting2010
Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society (JEGM2010, Joint meeting with GCMAS and ESMAC)
May 10 - 14, 2010, Miami, FloridaAbstract deadline - tbawww.gcmas.org/conference
American College of Sports MedicineJune 2 - 5, 2010, Baltimore, MarylandAbstract deadline - November 2, 2009www.acsm.org/… or http://tinyurl.com/lld9jp
International Society of Electrophysiology andKinesiology
June 16 - 19, 2010, Aalborg, DenmarkAbstract deadline - tbawww.isek-online.org/up_conf.asp
