PROVIDENCE, RI, April 2018 - Sayles Hall played host to several cutting edge innovations last Wednesday, when a group of graduate students and staff researchers hosted National Biomechanics Day for local high school students.  Groups of students explored various stations throughout the room, including a motion capture and tracking setup, Raspberry Pi and Arduino circuits, and force plates. Students could also learn about head impact centers with Jaclyn Alois, a graduate student in the Crisco Lab.  She showed students a helmet containing the sensors. “We’re working with youth teams in Rhode Island to quantify impacts at all practice and game sessions,” said Alois. “ [National Biomechanics Day] gives high schoolers a good chance to see what options they have beyond high school.  It’s a great exposure to the possibilities open to them.” “Biomechanics as a field is underrepresented and underexposed among STEM fields,” said Amy Morton, a research engineer in the Crisco Lab.  “It can be a specialty career many are not aware of. We were propelled to expose high school individuals to the possibilities and avenues that could take you here.”  

National Biomechanics Day is an initiative started by the American Society for Biomechanics in 2016 to draw attention to the various careers students can pursue in the field.  Now in its third year, National Biomechanics Day has engaged over 9,000 students internationally in activities related to the field. Brown’s National Biomechanics Day was organized by the Crisco Lab, led by Amy Morton.