Biomechanical Engineering in Sports - 585.612

This course explores strategies and technologies used in the biomechanical analysis of individuals and teams in sports in order to minimize the risk of injury and improve performance. This course focuses on the intersection of anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, and mechanical engineering in order to discover, model, characterize and optimize sports performance and injury determinants. Sports applications will be studied, evaluating specific movements, injuries, technologies, techniques and strategies that are used in the associated professional fields. Topics covered will include the forces in equilibrium, forces causing motion, deformable mechanics as well as the biomechanics of running, the biomechanics of baseball, the biomechanics of golf, contact sports injury biomechanics, human performance monitoring and data analysis for player performance, and technologies and techniques in sports biomechanics. Students will be asked to survey and critique sports biomechanics research literature, characterize and model sports movements through sensors and data analysis, design clinical programs to train and evaluate sport-specific movements, solve simple biomechanics problems, and implement data analysis principles on sports performance datasets.Prerequisites: A background in physics, biomechanics, or mechanical engineering is required. Introduction to biomechanics (585.631) is recommended. A physiology course is also recommended. Experience in programing (e.g., working in MATLAB/Python) is recommended.