Breadcrumbs

Learning on the move

5 April 2023

Reaction testing for students from Mount Maunganui College

Students from across the Bay of Plenty attended sessions of jumping, sprinting, balancing, and analysing human motion at the Adams Centre for High Performance last week, all to mark National Biomechanics Day.

National Biomechanics Day is a worldwide celebration of Biomechanics where university labs across the globe invite high school students and their teachers to experience biomechanics in action. In New Zealand, staff and postgraduate students from Te Huataki Waiora School of Health from the University of Waikato took the lead in sharing their love for biomechanics.

Senior Lecturer Dr Kim Hébert-Losier says it’s a great opportunity for students to get an idea of pathways to employment they may not have considered.

“Biomechanics is a multidisciplinary science that combines the field of biology and mechanics. It incorporates STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and medical subjects, yet the discipline tends to fly under the radar until students get to tertiary level,” says Kim.

Mount Maunganui College students test their spring at the National Biomechanics Day held at the Adams Centre for High Performance on Friday.

“National Biomechanics Day provides the perfect forum for experiential hands-on learning that goes a long way in promoting STEM careers and educational pathways to secondary school students.”

PhD student Cam Olsen showed students his work using sports video to analyse performance of netball players and teams, which he’s using to provide assistance to Magic Netball.

“The increase in technology availability has given us new opportunities to analyse and measure performance of groups, over individuals. We’re collecting data from all movements and actions on the court and identifying common links and marrying links together to find opportunities to improve performance of the team, and the athletes.”

Cam says the opportunity to find a career that is relevant and rewarding is priceless for young people.

“At this age it's important to see the real-world opportunities for young people and sport employment, and what the future might look like. Elite athletes are really interested in their individual data, but some athletes might not have the chance to take it to the professional level. So it’s good to know they can still be involved in professional sport, and there are pathways for that.”

Students from Mount Maunganui College check out stress testing with PhD student Anna Butcher’s 3D modeling.

Anna Butcher is doing her PhD in biomechanics, looking at the effects of maturation and how the menstrual cycle phase affects risk of ACL injury. She uses 3D motion capture technology to showcase and help students understand sport mechanics as it relates to knee injuries.

“We’re starting to see in late- to post-pubertal females the non-contact ACL injuries are going nuts, and they’re having to have first and second surgeries more often. We think that’s partially to do with the way they grow and change, and how hormones change across the menstrual cycle.”

Anna’s research involves male and female participants aged 7-20 who play a court or field sport - she’s looking to test 80 people over the next six months.

“We’re doing a cross-sectional study with a range of groups, to do some cognitive tasks and balance, squatting and jumping tasks. All of this data collection will create more opportunities for studies in the future.”

Anna’s work focuses on the prevention of injury by showing what’s going wrong with a player's biomechanics and developing a system to inform exercise programmes to reduce that risk.

Other stations for National Biomechanics Day focused on sprint acceleration and reaction times where students were able to see how fast they can sprint and react to stimulus, and measuring calf muscle strength and endurance using a mobile application developed by Dr Kim Hébert-Losier and showcased by her PhD student Ma. Roxanne Fernandez. The app is receiving international acclaim for its ability to track and quantify calf muscle performance in children, the elderly and high-level athletes.


Latest stories

Related stories

Assistant Vice-Chancellor Sustainability Professor Lynda Johnston

Waikato ranks in top 100 of universities globally

The University of Waikato has been recognised in the top 100 of educational institutions worldwide…

Dr Joanna Hicks

Health Research Council funding for gonorrhoea, and self-harm research

The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) has announced funding for two University of…

Ross Lawrenson

Budget misses opportunity to train more NZ doctors

Today’s Budget misses an opportunity to invest in training more New Zealand doctors says Professor…

Exploring and embracing diversity

Research at the University of Waikato is helping to underpin policy development and decisions designed…

Jo Lane

New University of Waikato Health Dean has health workforce in his sights

Better, fairer health outcomes and responding to community need will be the priorities for newly…

Group photo

Ministers visit Coastal Marine Field Station

The University of Waikato’s Coastal Marine Field Station was on show when Finance Minister Grant…

Graduates from the University of Waikato line up for their ceremony

Triumph in Tauranga: University of Waikato celebrates graduation

Just over 250 people graduated from the University of Waikato’s Tauranga campus on Friday, marking…

Graduates at Te Kohinga Mārama Marae on Monday.

A week of celebration for Waikato graduates

It’s graduation week at the University of Waikato – and that means four days of…

Rhythm and resilience: A deputy principal’s inspiring journey to success

A talented dancer and performer, Caroline Gill has had a long history with the University…

Nathan Bailey, inaugural recipient of the Tauranga Moana Futures Scholarship

Scholarship enables inaugural recipient to contribute to the redevelopment of Tauranga City

University of Waikato first-year Bachelor of Engineering student Nathan Bailey is the inaugural recipient of…

Ally Wollaston with a gold medal at the UCI Nations Cup track competition in Jakarta.

Three golds for cyclist Ally Wollaston

University of Waikato law student and Hillary Scholar Ally Wollaston has returned to New Zealand…

Waikato alumnus awarded prestigious University Medal.

The University of Waikato has awarded its prestigious University of Waikato Medal to alumnus Rob…