Achievement

Seminar on Biomechanics. All IGERT trainees attended and two presented. The seminar exceeded our IGERT program goals. The seminar is informal, focusing on current progress, new collaborations and novel applications from approaches, theory and equipment developed for a specific discipline. IGERT trainees and their advisors enthusiastically reported the new directions derived from presentations and feedback to IGERT presenters. Feedback to one trainee presenter in bioengineering showed how his novel adaptation of a CNC Milling machine used to study the wear and tear on hip and knee replacement could allow the study mastication in animals, a greater understanding of the diversity in foot design, and complex loading of biomaterials. A second trainee presenter from civil engineering found that his new digital defocusing 3D camera that captures images of sediment mixing could be used to study fundamental biological questions concerning plankton movement and larval settlement.