Karen Søgaard is currently a Senior Researcher in the research group of Function and Pain Physiology at National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NRCWE), Denmark. She received her MS in Physical Education and in 1994 her PhD in Human Physiology from the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Copenhagen. She has been a research fellow in 1995 at Department of Kinesiology, Simon Fraser, University, Vancouver, Canada and in 2001 at Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, Sydney, Australia.

She has been teaching in Biomechanics at University of Copenhagen and University of Trondheim and has been lecturing at a number of Danish and International PhD courses and at educational institutions.

Karen Søgaard serves on the editorial board of two international including the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology and serves as a referee for more than 10 scientific journals. She has authored more than 50 refereed papers and book chapters and about 120 conference abstracts or proceedings.

Julie Steele, PhD, is a Professor in Biomechanics at the University of Wollongong, Australia, where she heads the small but dynamic Biomechanics Research Laboratory. After completing a Diploma of Teaching in Physical & Health Education (KCAE, NSW) and a Bachelor of Physical Education (1st Class Honours; University of Western Australia), Julie joined the academic staff of the University of Wollongong in 1983. Since that time she has participated extensively in both teaching and research across the University, being actively involved in policy-making bodies including the University Council and University Research Council.

Julie’s research over the past 20+ years has focused on the biomechanics of injury prevention with a specific interest in mechanisms of lower extremity dysfunction, particularly ACL injury during dynamic landings, which was the topic of her PhD thesis, completed in 1997. Her current research interests also include breast movement and brassiere design, safe footwear for elderly women, effects of childhood obesity on lower limb structure and function, and human applications of intelligent fabrics.

John Challis obtained both his B.Sc. (Honors) and Ph.D. from Loughborough University of Technology. From Loughborough he moved to the University of Birmingham (UK), where he was a lecturer (human biomechanics). In 1996 he moved to the Pennsylvania State University, where he currently conducts his research in the Biomechanics Laboratory. His research focuses on the coordination and function of the musculo-skeletal system, and the data collection and handling methods required to investigate these. His collaborators include people working in anthropology, engineering, medicine, and motor control. To date he has supervised 11 graduate students to completion of their degrees.

He says: “I have regularly attended ISB congresses since 1987, and became a member in 1991. Since 2001 I have been in charge of the Society's archives which are housed at Penn State. As the archivist, my future targets would include: filling gaps in the existing materials, placing information about the archive on the web, placing key documents on the web, and undertaking a systematic re-organization of archive materials to permit easier access.”

For more information see: http://www.hhdev.psu.edu/kines/faculty/profiles/challis.htm

Andrew Cresswell is an Associate Professor at The University of Queensland where he has joint appointment in the School of Human Movement Studies and Division of Physiotherapy and head of the Neuromechanics Laboratory. He obtained his Bachelors degree from The University of Ballarat, Australia (‘97) his Masters degree from the University of Western Australia (‘85) and his Medical Doctorate in Neuroscience (’94) and Docent in Human Neurophysiology (’00) from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. He has previously held teaching and research positions at The University of Otago, The Karolinska Institute and The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences.

His research is directed toward understanding how the human brain controls movement using biomechanical and neurophysiology techniques. His particular research interests lie within the areas of the neural control of lengthening and shortening muscle actions, neural aspects of muscle fatigue as well as reflexive and voluntary activation of the abdominal musculature during postural tasks. He has co-authored more than 50 peer reviewed publications in leading scientific journals in biomechanics, neurophysiology and physiology. He has presented at more than 70 international conferences and is regularly invited to deliver addresses at symposia and conferences.

He is an Associate Editor for Acta Physiologica, the journal of the European Physiological Society, has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology and currently reviews for several additional scientific journals. Andrew has been a member of the International Society of Biomechanics since 1989 and has presented his research at eight of their meetings. He also is a member of other societies including the Society for Neuroscience, The American Physiological Society and The American College of Sports Medicine. Andrew will bring to the society his expertise and knowledge of using biomechanics to address issues of human movement.

I trained for a BSc in Physiotherapy in the Netherlands (1981), an MSc in Human Movement Sciences at the Free University in Amsterdam (1994) and a PhD in Kinesiology at Penn State University, USA (1997). Based in Cardiff at the School of Healthcare Studies since 1998, I have established the Research Centre for Clinical Kinaesiology, a fully equipped biomechanics laboratory, to research human movement within a clinical context. Research interests include the prevention and rehabilitation of lower limb complications due to diabetic neuropathy, mobility problems in chronic neurological disease, and rehabilitation of joint instability after knee injury. The effect of exercise on patients is a common thread in this research. I was recently appointed Director of Physiotherapy at Cardiff University and am the research lead for the School of Healthcare Studies.

I have been a member of the ASB/ISB since 1998 and am predominantly involved in biomechanics applied to the clinical field of rehabilitation. Having both a clinical and biomechanical background provides me with a good understanding of both fields and the different terminology used. Biomechanics is a powerful tool to explore movement but is not always well understood within the clinical environment. On the other hand the need for good research in the area of rehabilitation is clearly present. It is my mission to make biomechanics more available for research in this area by developing clinically relevant research methods and procedures so that appropriate evidence becomes more readily available. This would also be my focus within the ISB council.

Véronique Feipel received a Physical Therapy degree in 1990, the Agregation to higher secondary education degree in 1994 and a Ph.D. in Physical Therapy in 1997 from the University of Brussels (ULB), Belgium. She is currently Professor of Anatomy at the Sports and Physical Therapy School (ULB), as well as Invited Professor of Anatomy and Research Methodology in the Physical Therapy Department of the Haute Ecole Libre of Brussels.

Prof. Feipel has authored/co-authored 4 book chapters, over 60 abstracts or papers in conference proceedings, over 30 articles in peer-reviewed international journals and several articles in national journals. She reviews manuscripts for several journals and serves as an expert for the evaluation of grant applications at public research councils of Luxembourg and Canada. She is also involved in University Cooperation with Developing Countries: she conducted an anatomy-teaching mission at the National University of Rwanda. Prof. Feipel also has taken part in the organisation of several international congresses and workshops. She obtained the 2006 MAAF-Santé Price of the Société de Biomécanique.

Prof. Feipel is involved in the administration of the ULB Sports and Physical Therapy School and of the inter-university Doctoral School in Motor Sciences. She is also council member of the Alumni Association of the Sports and Physical Therapy School and the National Council of Physical Therapy. Her research interests include spine, wrist and knee kinematics and anatomy, functional evaluation of the spine and kinematics applications of 3D computed tomography.

For more information see http://homepages.ulb.ac.be/~anatemb/

Krystyna Gielo-Perczak is a scientist at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety in Hopkinton, MA, USA. She obtained a M.Sc. (with Honors) in Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering and her Ph.D. in Biomechanics and Mechanical Engineering from the Department of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Warsaw, followed by postdoctoral training in Biomechanics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Torino (Italy). She gained academic experience and mentored the students by serving as a faculty member or visiting lecturer at several universities around the world, including the Technical University of Warsaw, the University of Toronto, Victoria University of Technology (Australia), and the University of Oregon. Also, she worked at the University of Waterloo as a Technical Director of Gait Laboratory. Her research interests are modeling and simulation of the musculoskeletal system, control theory and the systems approach seen in the context of designing safer workplaces and preventing musculoskeletal injuries to industrial workers. She organized the Computer Simulation Tutorial Workshop at the ISB Conference. She is as a member of the Editorial Board of Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science and a Consulting Editor for Occupational Ergonomics.

Dr. Gielo-Perczak crosses the boundaries of many scientific approaches. Currently, she serves as a chair of The Individual Differences in Performance Technical Group in Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. She served as a member of the ISB Long Range Planning Committee in 1994-95. Also, she was a member of the executive council of the Technical Group on Computer Simulation (TGCS) from 1993-97. She has been a Biomch-L co-moderator since 1990.

She says: “In human performance modeling we need to consider cognitive as well biomechanical factors in the task analysis. We make many attempts to adapt the theoretical concepts of mechanics to biomechanical knowledge. However, we should look for the existing mechanism in the human body, which leaves room for variation and flexibility. Thus, there is an emerging need for the concept of a human system with perceptive insight into complexity of the mutual relationships of the human biomechanical measures and cognitive factors. The description of human operators should reflect the biomechanical measures of fatigue, and the complexity of brain activity, which includes cognition and the dynamic process of knowing.”

For more information see http://www.libertymutual.com/research/staff/gieloperczak_k.html

I am Professor in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of Massachusetts and have been the director of the Biomechanics Laboratory for the past 21 years. I served as Chair of the department for 11 years and as Associate Dean of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences for 3 years. I received a B.A. from York University, Toronto, a BS from Concordia University, Montreal, and both an M.S. and Ph.D. in biomechanics from University of Oregon.

My research interests are focused on lower extremity biomechanics during normal and pathological locomotion. I have authored or co-authored over 80 research papers, over 95 research proceedings, several book chapters and three books. I have also presented over 130 papers at both national and international conferences. I am a member of numerous organizations including the American, Canadian, and International Societies of Biomechanics and the American College of Sports Medicine. I am a Fellow of ACSM, the Research Consortium, the Canadian Society of Biomechanics, the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports and the Academy of Kinesiology. I am a member of several editorial boards of professional journals and review for all major professional biomechanics journals. I have been an invited speaker in many countries around the world. During my academic career, I have mentored more than 25 doctoral students.

I have served on the Executive Boards of the International Society of Biomechanics, the Internationals Society of Biomechanics in Sports, the New England Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine and the Canadian Society of Biomechanics. I have served on the Executive Board of the International Society of Biomechanics for the last four years. My responsibility on the Council is the Informatics portfolio. A major responsibility of this portfolio is to mange the ISB web site. I have worked to develop the new web site up and have managed many improvements on the site during the last two years..

Frans C.T. van der Helm was born in the Netherlands in 1960. He completed an MSc in Human Movement Science in Amsterdam in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Delft in 1991. Currently he is a full professor in Biomechatronics and Bio-robotics at Delft University of Technology (80%) and at Twente University (20%). His research interests are musculoskeletal modeling of the upper and lower extremities, eye and pelvic floor musculature, muscle modeling, morphological measurements, human motion control models and experiments, i.e. recordings of proprioceptive reflexes in patients with neurological disorders, neuro-rehabilitation robotics, bi-pedal walking robots, and haptic interfaces.

He says: “I became a member of the ISB in 1987, and attended almost all of the ISB conferences since then. We started the International Shoulder Group (ISG), which is currently a technical group of the ISB. I am a board member of the ISG, and also of the Technical Group on Computer Simulation (TGCS). In my opinion, the ISB should focus on a few main goals, i.e., offering opportunities to young scientists to participate in the international network of biomechanics, and increasing the scientific level of the field of Biomechanics. The ISB should use its network e.g., to enable M.Sc. and Ph.D. students to get traineeships at well-known laboratories, organizing small meetings and summer courses where young scientists can discuss with more experienced scientists. An important and continuous task for an international scientific organization is to define standards and means for reporting data and the exchange of data.”

For more information see http://mms.tudelft.nl/staff/vanderhelm/main.htm

Senior Lecturer in Sports Biomechanics at Loughborough University, UK, researching into Computer simulation of dynamic jumps, Maximal voluntary isovelocity torque, Computer simulation of racket sports, and Fast bowling in Cricket.

I have been a member of the International Society of Biomechanics and the Technical Group on Computer Simulation for the past 11 years and have attended ISB conferences (plus associated simulation satellite symposia) at Jyvaskyla, Calgary, Zurich, Dunedin and Cleveland. In 2005 I was elected onto the Executive Board for TGCS (2005-2007). At the European College of Sport Science 1997 conference I was awarded first prize in the Young Investigators Award for my work on the computer simulation of vaulting. I have made a number of invited conference presentations including: World Congress of Biomechancis 2006, International Sports Engineering Association 2004, and British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences 2005. I hope to promote sports biomechanics, the use of whole body subject-specific computer simulation models.

The main focus of my current research is using subject-specific computer simulation models to help understand the mechanics of the takeoff phase in dynamic jumps. Integral to this work is the role of muscle on optimum performance and in particular the relationship between maximal voluntary torque and angular velocity. Other areas of sports biomechanics research that I am currently involved with include using computer simulation models to investigate tennis elbow injuries and working with fast bowlers in cricket to investigate which bowling techniques are more likely to result in lower back injuries.

Li Li is an Associate Professor with tenure at the Louisiana State University. He is the Director of the Biomechanics Laboratory. He is adjunct professor of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, and the School of Veterinary Sciences. He also has visiting professor appointments at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and University North Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Li received his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts and his master degree from National Institute of Sport Science (China) in the area of biomechanics. His undergraduate degree is in Physics from Peking University. Dr. Li’s researches focus on the control of the human movement systems. More specifically, his research projects related to the control of stable state and the transition between different stable states. Dr. Li has be part of multidisciplinary research projects that were supported by more $4 million research grants from different grant agencies. His research papers published in Journal of Biomechanics, Journal of Applied Biomechanics and Clinical Biomechanics among other top rated peer reviewed journals. He has presented at numerous regional, national, and international conferences. His research related to the functional improvements of people with peripheral neuropathy have recently gained wide spread news media reports. It has been reported on network television, newspaper, and web publications. Dr. Li has been actively serve the biomechanics community for more two decades. He has presented as keynote and invited speaker at many national and international conferences. He has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology since 2001. He has also served as a guest reviewer for numerous journals in the field of biomechanics. To recognize his contribution to the field of research, he has been elected as Fellows of the AAHPERD Research Consortium and American College of Sports Medicine.

Dr. Li joined ISB as a group member through the Chinese Society of Biomechanics in 1988 and then renewed as individual member since 1999.

He says: “Collaborations among biomechanists and biomechanical organizations around the world and promotes the study of human movement is an important issue for the health and well being of people all over the world.”

Witaya Mathiyakom is a physical therapist who graduated from the School of Physiotherapy, Mahidol University, Thailand (1988). He was appointed as a junior faculty member at the Faculty of Physical Therapy, Rangsit University, Thailand. He, then, received his MS in Physical Therapy at the University of Southern California in 1994 and worked as a research physical therapist at the Biomechanics Lab, Centinela Hospital, CA. He then perused his training in biomechanics at the Biomechanics Lab, Department of Kinesiology, USC. After receiving his PhD (2004), he was appointed as a post-doctoral fellow at the Ethel Angrus Gerontology Center, USC (2004-present). His research focuses on the motor control and dynamics underlying momentum generation and redirection of whole body goal-directed movements observed during functional tasks (e.g changing direction, fall recovery) and sports (e.g diving).

During his post-doctoral training, he has begun to initiate both educational and research projects at several physical therapy programs in Thailand. The purpose of these projects is to promote and advance biomechanics education to physical therapy students, clinicians, faculty members in physical therapy and related fields. Witaya has served as an external examiner of a PhD candidate, a principle investigator and co-investigator of several biomechanics-related research projects, and a research consultant for ongoing research at several programs in Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences.

I am current Associate Dean of Research in the School of Physiotherapy at the University of Otago in New Zealand and have been a member of ISB since 1980. I was initially trained as a teacher, studying biomechanics under the late Jim Hay, and gained a masters and PhD at the University of Illinois under Charles Dillman. My current teaching interests are in movement analysis techniques and injury mechanisms, and have successfully supervised a large number of masters and PhD students. I have extensive administrative experience, having been head of a university department, and currently run a well-equipped gait laboratory. My contribution to biomechanics includes chairing the Organizing Committees for both the XIXth ISB Congress and the 6^th Footwear Biomechanics Symposium held in New Zealand in 2003, and serving as Education Officer on the ISB Executive Council since 2005.

My area of research focuses on biomechanical analysis of musculoskeletal stress in basic motor skills, occupational tasks and recreational activities, with an emphasis on injury prevention and rehabilitation. Specific areas include: Spine morphology and cervical and lumbar spine degeneration in contact sport participants, and Cumulative loading of the spine in rural occupations.

My vision for the ISB is the continued development of biomechanics through the sharing of biomechanical knowledge, bringing together of various sub-disciplines within biomechanics, and encouragement of young and developing researchers. Over my 2 years on Council, I have seen first-hand how international collaboration fosters the development of biomechanics, and the benefits to emerging scientists through this cooperation.

Tzyy-Yuang Shiang received his Ph.D. degree from Pennsylvania State University in Mechanical Engineering (majoring in Biomechanics) in 1993. His research interests are mainly dedicated to various aspects of Sports biomechanics, Biomedical engineering and Sports equipment design. He has been a research scientist and faculty member in the sports biomechanics field in Taiwan since 1995. He presently serves as the chairman of the Graduate Institute of Sports Equipment Technology and is the president of the Taiwanese Society of Biomechanics in Sports. He joined the ISB as an active member in 1997 when the ISB conference was held in Asia (Tokyo) the first time. He is now serving as chair for the upcoming ISB 2007 conference in Taipei.

During the past decade, Asia became a more important economic and political group in the world, and more Chinese researchers are willing to join the international society. An ISB council member in South Asia will be helpful to attract more researchers from this area in joining the ISB and connect to more “growth” groups within clinics and colleges in the field of biomechanics.

Karen Søgaard is currently a Senior Researcher in the research group of Function and Pain Physiology at National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NRCWE), Denmark. She received her MS in Physical Education and in 1994 her PhD in Human Physiology from the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Copenhagen. She has been a research fellow in 1995 at Department of Kinesiology, Simon Fraser, University, Vancouver, Canada and in 2001 at Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, Sydney, Australia.

She has been teaching in Biomechanics at University of Copenhagen and University of Trondheim and has been lecturing at a number of Danish and International PhD courses and at educational institutions.

Karen Søgaard serves on the editorial board of two international including the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology and serves as a referee for more than 10 scientific journals. She has authored more than 50 refereed papers and book chapters and about 120 conference abstracts or proceedings.

Marco Aurélio Vaz obtained his B.Sc. (Honors) from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) and his Ph.D. from the University of Calgary (Canada). After his PhD he returned to Brazil, where he has been lecturing (Neuromechanical Bases of Human Movement) and where he currently conducts his research in the Exercise Research Laboratory. His research focuses on muscle function and adaptation to exercise. In 2003 he returned to Calgary for a one year sabbatical, where he did some work in Biomechanics of the Musculoskeletal System. His collaborators include people working in muscle mechanics, muscle architecture, medicine, and exercise physiology. To date he has supervised 13 graduate students to completion of their degrees.

He says: “Despite the financial difficulties from researchers in developing countries to attend regularly ISB congresses, I have made an effort to get funding for all congresses since 1997, and was able to attend the conferences in Zurich, Calgary and Munich. I want to help the Society in terms of reaching researchers in these developing countries, finding their needs and seeking possible ways for the Society to help these scientists”. He became a member of the Society in 2006.

I am a doctoral student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Case Western Reserve University, USA. I study the biomechanics of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES)-assisted gait in spinal cord injured individuals. FES is electrical stimulation of nerves to activate muscles and produce functional movement of the limbs. Currently, FES can produce cyclic movement of lower limbs and assist walker-supported ambulation after spinal cord injury (SCI). I am investigating better ways to coordinate FES with the voluntary movement to enhance balance and coordination during over-ground ambulation.

I got the opportunity to do my academic studies in two different countries, India and USA. In an economically developing country like India, the resources in academia for research are limited. Access to international journals is rarely available and most of the conferences are local. They do not provide students with the required exposure. Many a times, dissertation becomes a re-work of research that has already been done. ISB was founded to promote the study of biomechanics at the international level. Biomch-L list-server and Biomch-W knowledge repository are really helpful in providing students with the information they need. I wonder if it is possible for ISB to provide students with a mentor who can guide them during their research work. An industry-university partnership for research is possibly the solution when major monetary and technological investments are required, like for setting up a gait laboratory. This gives ISB an opportunity to provide expertise, foster this industry-university relationship, and make a difference.

I am a PhD candidate within the Biomechanics Research Laboratory at the University of Wollongong, Australia, headed by Professor Julie Steele. My research focuses on the biomechanics of foot structure, function and footwear design for the elderly. My past research investigated the cause of flat feet in overweight and obese pre-school children, resulting in the development of a novel procedure to measure thickness of the midfoot plantar fat pad. My PhD is aiming to characterise foot structure and function and shoe wearing habits in the elderly, and to determine the influence of these factors on falls risk. In 2005, I was elected as the first ever Student Representative on the Executive Board for the Footwear Biomechanics Group, a technical group of ISB. This role finishes in 2007, and I would like to bring my experience gained during this role to the ISB board. I am passionate in encouraging student participation in all areas of ISB, and in particular would like to see further participation by students at ISB conferences. Furthermore, I would aim to develop improved mentoring of student members of the ISB.

I was born and grew up in the suburbia of Cleveland, and at 18 decided the weather was just not depressing enough and headed Ithaca, NY, to study mechanical engineering at Cornell University. Since I have always been very active in sports and fitness in general, concentrating in understanding mechanics applied to humans was a natural fit. After taking a semester detour into warmer weather in Sydney, Australia, I returned to my progression into colder climates by completing my master’s degree from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. However, I realized I personally couldn’t study biomechanics very well in the dark, so I’ve learned my last and am now working on doctoral studies at the University of Southern California in sunny Los Angeles.

I am primarily interested in studying and modeling full body movement and understanding how humans control and redirect momentum during athletic tasks. For instance it is of interest to know how athletes perform cutting movements between different ground surfaces, muscle strengths, and other variations. It is of further interest to study the best methods to apply this knowledge, i.e. optimal learning and interaction techniques with a subject in order to improve performance and/or reduce risk of injury.

I am a third year PhD/research student at the University of Southampton, England and Nigerian by birth. My field of work is gait analysis and rehabilitation and I am presently researching on gait kinetics in people with Parkinson’s disease using ground reaction forces and 3D motion analysis.

I would like to be considered for election as the new ISB representative because it is such an invaluable opportunity to contribute and be part of such a recognised and dynamic society that promotes the knowledge and shape of biomechanics. Personally, I like teamwork and working to help others and besides my gaining more experience, I would like to be of a positive influence to fellow student members and to help them gain more knowledge in the field of biomechanics depending on their interests.