Research Interests

Research interests are divided into two major categories:  rehabilitation biomechanics, and sport biomechanics.

Primary focus within the area of rehabilitation biomechanics centers on the measurement and analysis of pathological gait patterns, and the development of models to predict the functional outcome of specific surgical procedures commonly used in the treatment of these pathologies.  Work in this area is conducted in conjunction with Dr. Freeman Miller of the Orthopedic staff at the A.I. duPont Hospital for Children, and Dr. Jian Q. Sun of the University of Delaware Department of Mechanical Engineering.  Currently, Tim Niiler, a doctoral student in the Biomechanics and Movement Science program, is also working in this area.  Another area of research within the area of rehabilitation biomechanics includes analysis of the variability of measures common to the study of gait within normal and pathological populations, including foot pressure measures, metabolic assessments, electromyographical measures, kinematic measures, and inverse dynamic calculations.  Additionally, research has been conducted on the efficacy of physical therapy in conjunction with orthotics to control excessive pronation in walking.

Research interests within the area of sport biomechanics encompass a wide variety of activities, and to some degree, are driven by the interests of students who are in the process of designing and conducting Master's theses.  Long-term faculty-level research in the area of sport biomechanics includes the analysis of throwing patterns and figure skate design, and more recently, on-ice jumps and landings.  Research in conjunction with Master's degree students has been in areas ranging from analysis of the effects of foot placement/orientation on rowing mechanics, to analysis of the effects of blade alignment on the lower extremities in in-line skates, to estimation of injury potential of specific kicks executed by practitioners of Chinese Wushu, to the role of the ankle in absorbing impacts during backwards landing (as in figure skating).   A complete listing of topics can be found in the Student Research section of this page, if the students ever get on the ball.