Slavens lab hosts National Biomechanics Day at UWM
MPS high school students visit the Mobility Lab for National Biomechanics Day.
For the second year, Brooke Slavens, professor, mechanical engineering, and her lab members celebrated National Biomechanics Day, April 19, by hosting an event for 30 Milwaukee Public Schools high school students.
Participants joined in hands-on activities to explore motion analysis, strength and balance. Lab members included researcher Anthony Nguyen; Caleb Cordes, PhD student, health sciences; and Brian Patterson, master’s student, industrial engineering. Undergraduate SURF students Jake Siong, biomedical engineering, and Matthew Van De Wege, kinesiology, also assisted. (Photos by Chris Beimborn.)
MPS high school students from Golda Meir School, who are enrolled in a Project Lead the Way class, visited Professor Brooke Slavens’ Mobility Lab at the Innovation Accelerator building.MPS students attach small reflective markers to their clothing for one demonstration. The markers show up on the computer screen at particular landmarks on the body.Brooke Slavens (left) leads the group through movements that the computer program tracks by picking up on the location of the reflective markers on their clothes. Using this, the group could compare different walking and jumping patterns. Lab member Brian Patterson (left) explains BTE Primus RS equipment, a rehabilitation machine that uses a gear system to emulate resistance. Here, the BTE is employed to look at the power generated by a participant’s baseball swing. The green bar on the screen indicates the power output behind the swing.A high school student comes “up to bat” using the BTE Primus RS equipment. A high school student comes “up to bat” using the BTE Primus RS equipment.
