Table of Contents

• President's Blog 

  Results of the ISB2027 bid process, results of the ISB member survey, plans for an ISB strategy...  [read more]

• Student's Corner

Updates from the Student Representative

• Be sure to apply for the Congress Travel Grant (CTG)! This grant will be offered to help reduce the travel expenses to attend the XXX ISB Congress in Stockholm. There will be several awarded travel grants, from $600 USD up to $1200 USD!... [read more] 

Student Awards 

• Congratulations to our 2024 ISB Student Awardees! The International Society of Biomechanics (ISB) has announced the recipients of our 2024 student awards and grants... [read more on the ISB webpage] 

• Biomechanics Through Time

  This year marks the bicentenary of an important paper presented to the Académie Royale de Sciences by Jean Baptiste Fourier (1768-1830).... [read more]

• Destination of ISB 2027 has been defined

  Last year, the ISB published the call for bids for organizing our 2027 Congress. The guidelines for bid preparation were made available to the community, and on behalf of the ISB, I would like to ... [read more]

• ISB Nominations for the Executive Council are open

  Elections for ISB President and Council members in Spring 2025! ISB members are welcome to nominate themselves or other candidates (to Past President Alberto Leardini, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)... [read more]

• Technical Group News

Comparative Neuromuscular Biomechanics 

• The Comparative Neuromuscular Biomechanics Technical Group (CNB), in collaboration with researchers at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä (JYU), and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are planning satellite meeting in Helsinki, prior to the ISB2025 Congress. The meeting location is Backby Manor... [read more] 

• ISB Awards

  ISB Awards cover all stages of the academic journey, from graduate studies to postdoctoral research, ensuring that achievements at every level are celebrated. It's never too early to start preparing your applications.... [read more]

  The 2024 ISB World Athletics Award for Biomechanics was given to.... [read more]

• Around the World

XLVI International Congress of the Iberian Society of Biomechanics and Biomaterials (SIBB-24)

• The Sports Biomechanics Research Group (GIBD) is organizing the XLVI International Congress of the Iberian Society of Biomechanics and Biomaterials (SIBB-24), which will take place on November 7-8, 2024, in the city of Ontinyent, Valencia (Spain) ... [read more] 

South America Representative - Felipe P Carpes, President-Elect ISB

• The Chilean Association of Movement Sciences (ACCM) invites the community to the IV Congress of ACCM at the University of Antofagasta next November 6 – 8, 2024... [read more]

• 3DAHM 2024 is considered the most important international event on 3D Human Movement Analysis and, for the first time, it will take place in South America... [read more] 

• XXI Brazilian Congress of Biomechanics website has been launched... [read more] 

• Obituary

John J O’Connor (1934-2024)

• John O'Connor stands among the founding figures of biomechanics, having extensively contributed to our understanding of the mechanics of natural and replaced joints. His pioneering work, mentorship, and friendship deeply impacted the lives and careers of countless students and colleagues... [read more]

Scroll down to see all featured articles:

President's Blog

In July the ISB Council had our annual meeting in Edmonton, Canada, and many of us were fortunate to stay on for the scientific meeting of ISB Affiliate Society, Canadian Society of Biomechanics (CSB). First, on behalf of ISB, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to the organisers and members of CSB, particularly Lindsey Westover, for making us feel so welcome, and providing space for our Council meeting. At the Council meeting we heard reports from each of the ISB portfolios and we had a chance to discuss the ISB2027 bids and the ISB survey.

For the ISB2027 bids, you will find the result announced in Felipe’s President-Elect report. As you rush away from this President’s blog to read the result in Felipe’s report, please make sure you come straight back here to read further about the ISB survey and our plans for a ISB strategy. The ISB2027 selection process was an extremely difficult decision. We had 5 outstanding bids, and I truly hope to see the ISB Congress visit those locations in the future. My sincere thanks to the teams who submitted the bids, and to Felipe Carpes for coordinating the bid process.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey -  we had 280 responses, which is amazing, thank you! Here in this blog, I will summarise some of our impressions of the survey results and comments, and how we are planning on using these to develop an ISB strategy.

Based on a weighted average score, the activities with highest levels of importance for our members were recognition and awards for students, student travel grants, and special programs to support members from EDC. These activities ranked highest, even though the majority of respondents identified as Senior Researchers from non-EDC countries.

The next most important activities, based on weighted average score, were Equity and Diversity initiatives, recognition of outstanding contributions through awards and lectures, student and postdoc networking and mentoring activities, and the ISB website as a source of information about the society.

This provides us with excellent feedback as to which activities to support as priorities as we develop a strategy. In the first instance we have used these survey responses to draft some strategic goals for ISB and in the coming months we will develop these into a formal strategy to present to members for feedback. One action we have decided to take already is to investigate changes to the website. Given that the website appears to be a preferred source of information for our members, and the society is experiencing increasing challenges and costs associated with editing and maintaining the website on an outdated platform, we will investigate an update. I will provide further updates as they come in, but any changes would be aimed at reducing costs over time, correcting errors, simplifying core tasks for the society, and providing opportunities for ISB and our members to achieve our vision and increase our impact.  

Regarding the questions in the survey about the ISB Congress, again based on a weighted average score, the considerations with highest levels of importance for our members were opportunities for networking, opportunities for social interaction, and freedom and safety of the host country.  The next most important considerations were the line-up of speakers, diversity in the program, maintaining low registration cost, and having a variety of accommodation options. We have provided this feedback to the upcoming conference organisers, and we will make sure this feedback is considered in the ISB strategy.

Once again, I thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey, and invite you to contact me or one of our Council members if you have any further comments. Now the work on the strategy document begins!

Please see the full results of the survey if you are interested to find out more details such as where the responses came from (career stage, regions etc) or any of the comments.

Elizabeth Clarke

ISB President 

Back to Table of Contents

Updates from the Student Representative

Overview

I hope that everyone is off to a great start this semester!

Get ready for ISB 2025 in Stockholm!

The call for abstracts for the 30^th Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics  is just around the corner!

Be sure to apply for the Congress Travel Grant (CTG)! This grant will be offered to help reduce the travel expenses to attend the XXX ISB Congress in Stockholm. There will be several awarded travel grants, from $600 USD up to $1200 USD! Applications are to be received by January 31^st, 2025, with applicants being notified by March 15^th, 2025. More information can be found here.

We have some great plans forming for the student event and the student-mentor lunch. Be sure to stay on the lookout as more information will follow in the months to come. Looking forward to seeing you all next year (27 - 31 July)!

Mentoring Program

ISB is dedicated to promote and facilitate both the academic and personal development of young biomechanists around the world. If you are not already a part of our mentoring program, I highly encourage you to join! Interested ISB student members can be matched student-student or researcher-student. Find out more information here or email me directly to learn more!

Don’t forget that you can always reach out to your Mentor(s) through our Mentoring Program with questions regarding your research. If you are still stuck, feel free to discuss via the Biomech-L forum, Facebook, or X (formerly Twitter).

Science in the Break (SitB)

Be sure to watch the latest videos on Youtube!

Are you interested in participating? Did we miss a topic you would like to chat about? Do you want to learn how to interview people or edit videos professionally?

Reach out to us via email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Twitter (@ISBiomechanics and @ScilnTheBreak). We are always excited to connect with passionate students – we look forward to chatting with you and sharing your experiences/research with the community!

Upcoming Conferences

• Symposium on Applied Neuromechanics, Florianópolis, Brazil, 23-26 October 2024
• Société de Biomécanique Congress, Compiègne, France, 29-31 October 2024
• Annual Meeting of Taiwanese Society of Biomechanics, Tainan, Taiwan, 1-3 November 2024
• Chilean Association of Movement Sciences Congress, Antofagasta, Chile, 6-8 November 2024
• The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences Conference 2024, Longford, Coventry, 20-21 November 2024
• Australasian Biomechanics Conference - Australian and New Zealand Society of Biomechanics 2024, Brisbane, Australia, 27-29 November 2024
• Congress of Japanese Society of Biomechanics, Aichi, Japan, 30 November – 1 December 2024
• International Symposium on the 3-D Analysis of Human Movement, Montevideo, Uruguay 3-6 December 2024
• Brazilian Congress of Biomechanics, Petrolina, Brazil, 30 April – 3 May 2025
• European Society of Biomechanics, Zürich, Switzerland, 6-9 July 2025
• Comparative Neuromuscular Biomechanics 2025 Symposium, Helsinki, Finland, 24-25 July 2025
• International Society of Biomechanics, Stockholm, Sweden, 27-31 July 2025
• American Society of Biomechanics, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 13-16 August 2025
• International Society of Biomechanics in Sports Conference, Doha, Qatar, TBD 2025
• Conference of the German Society of Biomechanics, Hamburg, Germany, 18-20 March 2026

Keep in touch!

Stay up to date with ISB by liking our ISB Facebook page, joining the Student Members Facebook page, and following ISB on Twitter. Please reach out to me with any comments, questions, suggestions, or just to talk. You can contact me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Best Wishes,

Shaye Tiell

ISB Student Representative

Back to Table of Contents

Biomechanics Through Time

Here, you will uncover historical information about the society. Enjoy these nuggets curated by John Challis, our Archives Officer.  

This year marks the bicentenary of an important paper presented to the Académie Royale de Sciences by Jean Baptiste Fourier (1768-1830).  Fourier was a French mathematician and physicist perhaps best known for his development of the eponymous Fourier series.  In addition to his contributions in mathematics and physics he was an Egyptologist who accompanied Napoleon on his expedition to Egypt, a prefect of Isère and Rhône, and due to his support of Napoleon twice a political prisoner.  His work on Fourier series, or trigonometric series, designed to represent functions was first presented in 1808 (Fourier, 1808).  It was initially met with resistance from such luminaries as Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Pierre-Simon Laplace, and Adrien-Marie Legendre.  So, what was the topic of his 1824 presentation?  It was actually an early conceptualization of the greenhouse effect, the idea that the Earth's atmosphere might act as an insulator (see, for example Fourier, 1837).

Of course, in biomechanics the analysis of signals using Fourier series is an important tool.  Lord Kelvin (1824-1907) claimed,

“Fourier's theorem is not only one of the most beautiful results of modern analysis, but it may be said to furnish an indispensable instrument in the treatment of nearly every recondite question in modern physics.”

R. McNeill Alexander (1934-2016) was a zoologist who exploited this “indispensable instrument”.  He made many important contributions to our understanding of legged locomotion (and early in his career the motion of fish).  For his various contributions he was awarded the Muybridge Medal in 1991.  The Muybridge Medal is the most prestigious award of the ISB.  At the XIII^th ISB Congress in Perth, Australia Professor Alexander gave the award lecture expounding on how the structure of the legs of animals influences how they move.  This work was subsequently published as a review paper (Alexander, 1993).  Some of the work he reviewed included that of Alexander & Jayes (1978) who modelled the ground reaction force arising in locomotion as truncated Fourier series, a method which is described in more detail in Alexander & Jayes (1980).  Jayes & Alexander (1980) exploited this method to explain the low-speed locomotion of the four-legged gait of Chelonians (turtles, terrapins, and tortoises).  It is hard to imagine that Fourier, who used his series to examine the heating of metals, could have foreseen such applications of Fourier series, or indeed the impact of the greenhouse effect.

References

• Alexander, R. M. (1993). Optimization of structure and movement of the legs of animals. Journal of Biomechanics, 26(Supplement 1), 1-6.
• Alexander, R. M., & Jayes, A. S. (1978). Vertical movements in walking and running. Journal of Zoology, 185(1), 27-40.
• Alexander, R. M., & Jayes, A. S. (1980). Fourier analysis of forces exerted in walking and running. Journal of Biomechanics, 13(4), 383-390.
• Fourier, J. (1808). Mémoire sur la propagation de la chaleur dans les corps solides. Nouveau Bulletin des Sciences de la Société Philomathique de Paris, 6, 112-116.
• Fourier, J.-B. J. (1837). General remarks on the temperature of the terrestrial globe and the planetary spaces. American Journal of Science, 32(1), 1-20.
• Jayes, A., & Alexander, R. M. (1980). The gaits of chelonians: walking techniques for very low speeds. Journal of Zoology, 191(3), 353-378.
  
  

Back to Table of Contents

President-elect updates - Felipe P Carpes

The destination for the ISB 2027 congress has been defined  

Last year, the ISB published the call for bids for organizing our 2027 Congress. The guidelines for bid preparation were made available to the community, and on behalf of the ISB, I would like to thank all the organizers who approached me to express their interest in preparing and submitting a bid. Guidance was provided whenever requested by the organizers. After a long process spanning several months, five bids were submitted for the ISB 2027 Congress. The bids came from:

• Hong Kong, submitted by Professor Ming Zhang on behalf of the Hong Kong Society of Biomechanics;
• Portugal, submitted by Professor António Veloso on behalf of the University of Lisbon;
• India, submitted by Professor RajiniKumar Palaniappan on behalf of the Indian Society of Biomechanics and Kinesiology;
• Australia, submitted by Professor Karen Mickle on behalf of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Biomechanics;
• Spain, submitted by Professor Jose Ignacio Priego-Quesada on behalf of the University of Valencia.

The bids were evaluated through an initial screening of the documents, followed by analysis by a subcommittee appointed by the ISB President-elect. This subcommittee included the President, Past-President, EDC Officer, Affiliated Societies Officer, and the Treasurer. After the initial screening and analysis, three bids were deemed eligible to be presented at the ISB Executive Council Meeting on August 17th in Edmonton, Canada.  We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all the bid organizers for investing their time and resources to travel to Canada to present their bids and respond to questions from the ISB Executive Council members. The high quality of the bids was evident.

During the executive council meeting, each proposal was thoroughly reviewed and compared to other proposals by the Executive Council members, considering factors such as diversity, equity, inclusion, representation, environmental impact, and the benefits for the society, its members, and the hosting institutions.

The final decision of the council was to select the bid submitted by Professor Karen Mickle, on behalf of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Biomechanics, proposing the ISB 2027 Congress to be held in Sydney, Australia, from July 18th to 22nd, 2027. It will be the responsibility of the next President-elect to serve as the liaison between the ISB Executive Council and the organizers of the 2027 Congress.

Personally, I would like to thank the organizers for their professionalism during the process of preparing and submitting their bids. While only one bid could be selected, each proposal was outstanding, and the selection process was highly competitive. Every bid had great potential, and the ISB community is fortunate to have many members willing to host our Congress.

Finally, as a member of an EDC, I would like to leave a personal note encouraging future ISB Congress organizers to be mindful of the economic challenges involved in the participation of EDC members in the congress. I also encourage ISB members from EDC regions to consider submitting a bid for a future ISB Congress.

Felipe P. Carpes

ISB President Elect

Back to Table of Contents

XXXII CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF BIOMECHANICS, ISB2027 

ISB Nominantions for the Executive Council are open

This is the first Call for nominations for the ISB President-Elect and ISB Executive Council Elections for the term 2025-2027

Every two years ISB members elect a new President-Elect and Executive Council. The Executive Council members are elected for a 2-year term, with a maximum of three terms, and shall represent various scientific areas within biomechanics and countries from throughout the world. The Executive Council meets every year (one meeting at the ISB Congress, the other in another place feasible to the majority) and provides leadership for the continued development of the Society and oversees the many on-going activities that are performed by Council appointed sub-committees, including activities in Economically Developing Countries, student grants, and student awards. The full list of current Officers at https://isbweb.org/about-us/executive-council. The President-Elect will become President two years later, in 2027, and is responsible for coordinating the proposals for the 2029 ISB Congress.

As according to the ISB Operating codes, it is my duty as Past-president to serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee as well as solicit nominations for President-Elect and Executive Council Members from the ISB membership.

Typically, there are 3 to 4 vacant positions on the Executive Council and the President-Elect position is open and must be filled.

I therefore encourage you to nominate individuals from the ISB membership for both the executive council positions and president-elect position. All nominations must be agreed to by the person being nominated. Self-nominations must be endorsed by a current member of the executive council or an ISB Fellow. Nominations should consist of the name of the individual and a brief biography (no more than 250 words) and emailed to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Once nominations have been received an anonymous ballot will be administered by the ISB Treasurer approximately 3 months prior to the biennial congress (this time Stockholm 2025 July 27-31).

Please note that all President and Executive Council members are unpaid and are required to cover their own costs for travel and accommodation to the annual council meetings.

We also would like that the ISB Council is equitable and diverse, and may represent the interests of all members.

Alberto Leardini

Past President

Back to Table of Contents

Comparative Neuromuscular Biomechanics Technical Group

CNB-ISB 2025 Satellite meeting: Muscle-Tendon Mechanics Across Species      Helsinki, Finland – July 23-25, 2025

The Comparative Neuromuscular Biomechanics Technical Group (CNB), in collaboration with researchers at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä (JYU), and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are planning a 2 day/3 night in-person satellite meeting in Helsinki, Finland July 23^rd-26^th 2025, prior to at the ISB2025 Congress in Stockholm, Sweden.  The meeting location is Backby Manor.

This meeting is being organized by Taylor Dick, Taija Finni, Neil Cronin, Jonas Rubenson, and Huub Maas

CNB aims to accelerate cross-pollination between comparative and human biomechanics fields, and is well aligned with the strategic aims of JYU’s Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences. The meeting is scheduled directly before the ISB Congress in Stockholm Sweden, and we envision attendees travelling from Helsinki to Stockholm (ferry and airplane options).

The scientific program includes the following sessions:

• From small to big: Comparative Biomechanics across scales
• Muscle-tendon Properties and Mechanisms
• Computational Modelling
• Muscle-tendon Dynamic Function
• The 3 Bs: Biomimetics & Bioinspired-design in Comparative Biomechanics
• Open Biomechanics

Confirmed Invited Speakers:

• Nicolai Konow
• Lena Ting
• Dominic Farris
• Massimo Sartori
• Peter Magnusson
• Benedicte Vanwanseele
• Stephanie Ross
• Emma Hodson-Tole
• Kirsten Albracht
• Christofer Clemente
• Jan-Henning Dirks
• Cameron Taylor

We will have an open call for abstract submissions in early 2025, stay tuned for more details.

CNB - https://sites.psu.edu/cnbgroup/meetings/

Back to Table of Contents

ISB Awards

A friendly reminder that the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB) offers a series of prestigious awards in conjunction with the 2025 Congress. These awards aim to recognize scientific excellence and honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of biomechanics.

The award categories span all stages of the academic journey, from graduate studies to postdoctoral research, ensuring that achievements at every level are acknowledged. It’s never too early to start preparing your applications!

For more details on the awards and eligibility criteria, please visit our Awards and Honours page. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Awards Officers, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We look forward to receiving your submissions!

ISB World Athletics Award for Biomechanics

This award is presented annually at the ISB/ISBS Congress during the year in which it is awarded. Shogo Hashimoto was the winner of the 2024 ISB/ISBS World Athletics Award for Biomechanics for the paper "Distal joint kinetics are associated with shot put performance" . 

Back to Table of Contents

XLVI International Congress of the Iberian Society of Biomechanics and Biomaterials (SIBB-24)

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to inform you that our Sports Biomechanics Research Group (GIBD) is organizing the XLVI International Congress of the Iberian Society of Biomechanics and Biomaterials (SIBB-24), which will take place on November 7-8, 2024, in the city of Ontinyent, Valencia (Spain).

All event information, including registration instructions, submission of communications, and the preliminary program, is available on the official congress website: https://www.congresogibd.es/

We would like to remind you of some key dates for the congress:

• Deadline for submission of communications: September 27th, 2024
• Notification of acceptance of communications: October 4th, 2024
• End of early registration period: September 20, 2024

The submission of communications is now open, and we invite you to actively participate by presenting your research work. Your contributions will enrich the exchange of knowledge and strengthen the development of biomechanics, biomaterials, and biomedicine on an international level.

We also encourage you to register and share this information with your colleagues, students, and researchers so that they can participate and attend the congress.

For any inquiries, please feel free to contact us through the email available on the congress website.

We look forward to your participation and hope to see you in Ontinyent.

Kind regards,

Alberto Encarnación / Pedro Pérez
Organizing Committee / Scientific Committee
XLVI International Congress SIBB-24

Back to Table of Contents

Updates from South America

Chilean Association of Movement Sciences (ACCM) 2024 Congress

From Felipe Carpes - South American Representative

The Chilean Association of Movement Sciences (ACCM) invites the community to the IV Congress of ACCM at the University of Antofagasta next November 6 – 8, 2024. The ACCM is an ISB affiliate society created with the objective of promoting the development and dissemination of Movement Sciences and related disciplines, including Biomechanics, Neurosciences, Psychology, Physiology, and Engineering, either individually or through interdisciplinary collaboration.

We invite the community to visit www.accm.cl and follow the society on social media at @ciencias_del_movimiento_chile to have access to the latest content regarding ACCM activities. Companies willing to support and participate in the event are invited to reach out to the society through the e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

South America is hosting the 3DAHM Symposium next December

From Felipe Carpes - South American Representative

3DAHM 2024 is the most important international event on 3D Human Movement Analysis. For the first time in Latin America (Dec. 3-6 2024) and with a focus on Tango studies as a local feature, 3DAHM 2024 will showcase the results of research on every aspect of Human Movement, which occurs in 3D space: inertial sensors, rehabilitation systems, equipment for sports and training, as well as 3D kinematics, models and clinical applications in a broad sense but related to Human Movement. Start-up companies producing equipment, devices or software for such analysis are specially invited. Accepted papers will be submitted for inclusion into IEEE Xplore subject to meeting IEEE Xplore’s scope and quality requirements. A book by Springer is planned for 2025, composed of invited chapters by authors of the best articles presented at 3DAHM 2024.

The local organizers are excited with the opportunity to host members of the biomechanics community. We invite you to visit https://3dahm2024.com/ and learn about all the details of the upcoming 18th International Symposium of 3DAHM, which will happen next December 3-6 in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay.

The International Society of Biomechanics proudly is sponsoring the 3DAHM 2024.

XXI Brazilian Congress of Biomechanics Website has Been Launched

From Felipe Carpes - South American Representative

The Brazilian Congress of Biomechanics (CBB) is an official event of the Brazilian Society of Biomechanics (SBB) that takes place every two years in different locations around the country, with the aim of promoting discussions on biomechanics and advancing the development of the field. It is considered the largest and most important event in the field of biomechanics in Latin America. This event gathers an average of 400 participants at each edition, including national and international researchers, professionals from different fields, professors, and students from various courses (undergraduate and graduate) who work in different areas of biomechanics.

Of the 20 previous editions, only one took place in the Northern region of Brazil (Manaus in 2019), and two editions were held in the Northeast of Brazil more than 10 years ago (João Pessoa in 2005 and Natal in 2013 during the only ISB Congress in Latin America so far). Therefore, bringing the CBB back to this region, specifically to the Sertão of Pernambuco, will be an opportunity for growth in the field and will allow local participation, sparking the interest of new researchers, as well as showcasing the work done in the states of Pernambuco and Bahia, primarily.

Thus, the Federal University of the São Francisco Valley (UNIVASF) and the Physical Education Program, represented by its faculty and students, are pleased to open their doors to host the XXI Brazilian Congress of Biomechanics, to be held from April 30 to May 3, 2025, at the main campus of this institution in the city of Petrolina, PE. We will have the participation of national and international speakers, considering gender, ethnic, and geographic diversity, with a focus on biomechanics in practice.

We invite the community to learn more about the event visiting www.cbb2025.com.br

Back to Table of Contents

Obituary: John J O’Connor (1934-2024)

John O'Connor stands among the founding figures of biomechanics, having extensively contributed to our understanding of the mechanics of natural and replaced joints. His pioneering work, mentorship, and friendship deeply impacted the lives and careers of countless students and colleagues, including Tung-Wu Lu, Richie Gill and Alberto Leardini, who expressed their heartfelt gratitude for his guidance.

John’s academic journey began with first-class honours in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from University College Dublin in 1956. He then embarked on a distinguished career that included a PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1962, where he completed a thesis entitled ‘The transmission of oscillating forces between bodies in contact’. His academic posts included Assistant Professor in Engineering Mechanics at the University of Minnesota (1962-1964) and subsequent University Lecturer in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, where he would eventually become Professor of Engineering Science in 1996. In 1991, he became the Research Director of the Oxford Orthopaedic Engineering Centre.

Beyond his academic contributions, John’s work had far-reaching global impact. His sabbatical in 1972-73 as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, helped rebuild the university after the Nigerian Civil War. He spent a sabbatical term in 1982 in the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of California at San Diego at the invitation of the late Dale Daniel. His sabbaticals underscored his dedication to education and research that transcended borders. In 2018 he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science from University College Dublin.

John's research was vast and transformative. His focus included the mechanics of the knee and ankle joints, the pathomechanics of osteoarthritis, prosthesis design, gait analysis, mechanics of wear, and the application of finite element analysis in orthopaedic engineering. John intuitively understood the importance of collaboration and interdisciplinary working, showing that novel solutions that truly benefit patients require the combined insight of an engineer and a clinician. His innovative collaboration with John Goodfellow in 1966 laid the foundation for his groundbreaking work on knee biomechanics. He considered the role of the menisci in load-bearing at the human knee and developed a knee replacement containing mechanical analogues of the menisci. This led to the design and patent of the ‘Oxford Meniscal Knee,’ first implanted in 1976. Today, over 50,000 such procedures are performed annually worldwide. His collaboration with colleagues in Bologna (Leardini – Catani – Giannini) led to the development of the mobile-bearing BOX total ankle replacement, first implanted in 2003, further cementing his legacy in joint mechanics and replacement innovation.

John’s prolific publishing in leading biomechanical and orthopaedic journals is a testament to his academic rigour. He co-edited significant works such as Knee Ligaments (1990) and its second edition, Daniel’s Knee Injuries (2003), furthering global knowledge on ligament mechanics and injuries.

As a mentor, John was unparalleled. He hosted and guided numerous DPhil students—from 1990 to 2000, Amy Zavatsky, Richie Gill, David Wilson, Jennifer Feikes, Tung-Wu Lu, and Alberto Leardini, among others—who carried his work forward at global forums like the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB). John fostered not just intellectual growth but a spirit of camaraderie. With his beloved wife Gemma, he nurtured a tight-knit community of scholars that extended beyond research, often hosting meetings and recreational activities that deepened the bonds among his students and collaborators. He invited his students to effectively be part of his family, dinner at John and Gemma’s home was a regular feature for members of his students and collaborators.

John's passing marks the loss of an extraordinary figure in biomechanics and a beloved mentor to many. His legacy lives on through the enduring impact of his research, the scholars he mentored, and the transformative ideas he brought to the fields of orthopaedics and biomechanics. The ISB and the broader scientific community will forever remember him as a pioneer whose work continues to benefit patients, scientists, and physicians worldwide.

Biomechanics has lost a significant figure, and the ISB lost one of its pioneers.

Alberto Leardini, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli - Bologna

Tung-Wu Lu, National Taiwan University – Taipei

Richie Gill, University of Bath - Bath

Back to Table of Contents