I recently watched a documentary called ‘The Dinosaur Echo’ that referred to what we can learn from the dinosaur extinction. This film featured the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, Canada, the province to where many of us will travel this year. I was interested because the famous paleontologist, Philip Curie told of how children are fascinated by dinosaurs. Many years ago, I had a conversation with Robert McNeill Alexander (1934-2016), a famous Zoologist and Biomechanist, who has written many books on animal and human movement. As a fellow Northern Irishman (he was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland), I was privileged to have this talk with him. We spoke of one of my favorite books of his, ‘The Biomechanics of Dinosaurs and Other Big Animals’. It was then that he asked me if I knew the biggest word that most 3 year-old children know? He told me the word was ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’ because all children are fascinated with dinosaurs. I told Professor Alexander that adults are also interested and fascinated with dinosaurs. I often used information on dinosaurs when I taught undergraduate biomechanics to make things interesting.
Now to more serious things. This year will be a busy year for many of us because of the number of conferences and symposia to be held. The 2019 ISB Congress in Calgary, Canada is just around the corner and the organizing committee led by Drs. Walter Herzog and Benno Nigg have made great strides on the preparation for this event. The list of keynote speakers for the Congress is truly impressive with Professor Hugh Herr presenting the Wartenweiler Lecture and Professor Ralph Müller the Muybridge Lecture. Other keynote speakers include Professors Heike Vallery and Kim Bennell. I hope to see many of you in Calgary. The website for the 2019 ISB Congress is live and available HERE.
There will also be two pre-conference symposia to be held. in Canmore and Kananaskis, Alberta from July 28-30, 2019. The first of these symposia is the Computer Simulation in Biomechanics meeting held in Canmore from July 28-30. This symposium features keynote speakers Wendy Murray and Ilse Jonkers. The second symposia is the Footwear Biomechanics Group meeting to be held in Kananaskis also from July 28-30. The featured keynote speakers include Thor Besier, Breanne Everett, Richard Kent and Rodger Kram. The web sites for these symposia can be found here.
Prior to the ISB congress and the symposia described above are the European College of Sports Science meeting in Prague, Czech Republic from July 3-6 and the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports meeting in Oxford, Ohio, USA, from July 21-25. Information regarding these conferences can be found on the following web sites.
Lastly, I would like to take the opportunity to encourage all to participate in the 4th Annual National Biomechanics Day on April 10, 2019. Professor Paul DeVita should be congratulated for his inspired work on NBD. This event will introduce Biomechanics to an incredible number of high school students around the world. Check the American Society of Biomechanics web site for more information and how you can participate in National Biomechanics Day.
Lastly, I hope that you will attend one or more of the Biomechanics congresses and I hope to see and converse with many of you. Have a happy start to what promises to be a busy year.
Joseph Hamill (ISB President)
