ENME451-21S2 (C) Semester Two 2021

Biomechanics

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 19 July 2021
End Date: Sunday, 14 November 2021
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 1 August 2021
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 1 October 2021

Description

This course will cover research techniques in biomechanics using data capture equipment and provides a framework in which to analyse movement, force generation, and physiology through an understanding of Cartesian vector analysis, analytical methods and tools for the analysis of the human body. Students will be equipped to make quantitative measurements and apply the principles of biomechanics to measuring performance.

Course will cover a variety of biomechanical analysis and instrumentation topics such as skeletal anatomy, ergonomics, and exercise physiology. Methods for measuring and computing force and movement will be covered. Laboratory exercises will be used to demonstrate instrumentation including motion capture, force plates, electromyography (EMG), electrocardiography (ECG), heart rate monitors, accelerometers, and goniometers. Specific cultural exercises ad examples will be used to allow for students to grow and apply their bicultural competence.

The purpose of this course is to provide a broad overview of the field of biomechanics through a combination of lectures, hands-on labs, and research projects. Each one of the topics below could be an entire course, so the focus will be on breadth, not depth:

• Anatomy and Physiology: It is imperative to understand the vocabulary of the human body in order to be able to read scientific literature.
• Skeletal Tissue Mechanics: It is also important to understand the tissues of bone, muscle, cartilage, tendon, and ligament at a functional and microscopic level.
• Design of Experiments (Statistics): Gathering data from biological systems is difficult and the outcomes depend entirely on how the experiments were designed and data was collected.
• Research Techniques in Biomechanics: Course will discuss topics related to gathering data for biomechanics including planar kinematics, body segment parameters, force measurement, inverse dynamics, EMG kinesiology, muscle modelling, and computer simulation of movement.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to read journal literature, perform experiments to answer posed questions, and write analytical reports on their experimental results in the broad field of biomechanics.

Prerequisites

Course Coordinator

Debbie Munro

Lecturer

Dirk Pons

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Memos, Quizzes, Homework 17%
Lab Reports 32% 4 x Lab Reports
Individual Lit Review 24 Sep 2021 10%
Group Interim Project Report 04 Oct 2021 14%
Group Final Project Report 20 Oct 2021 27%


Workload

The course will consist of two lecture periods (100 hours) and one lab period each week. There will be six lab stations (centred around a specific biomechanics research technique, such as force plates), and students will work as permanent assigned teams at each lab station for two weeks. Toward the end of the course, lab stations will be open use for student teams to conduct their final research projects.

Assessment

Homework, quizzes, and project proposal 10% (periodically)
Midterm Research Report (individual) 10% (end of Term 1)
Group Lab Reports (6 at 10% each) 60% (biweekly)
Group Final Research Project 20% (end of Term 2)

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

Knudson, Duane V; Fundamentals of biomechanics ; 2nd ed; Springer, 2007 (https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.canterbury.ac.nz/book/10.1007%2F978-0-387-49312-1).

Robertson, D. Gordon E. et al; Research methods in biomechanics ; Second edition; Human Kinetics, 2014.

Additional Course Outline Information

Academic integrity

Harassment
* Harassment of any sort will not be tolerated.  Each UC student is here to learn and to experience a friendly and supportive community.
* It is every student's right to expect: respect and courtesy from staff and other students, including freedom from harassment of any sort; fair treatment; the ability to speak out about any issues that concern them, without fear of consequences for their safety and well-being.
* Furthermore, each student has the responsibility to: respect the rights and property of others; attend to their own health and safety, and that of others; and behave in a manner towards each other that does not reflect badly on the student body or the University.
* If you, or someone you know, has experienced harassment, please talk to your lecturers, directors of study, or head of department.


Dishonest Practice
* Plagiarism, collusion, copying, and ghost writing are unacceptable and dishonest practices.
* Plagiarism is the presentation of any material (test, data, figures or drawings, on any medium including computer files) from any other source without clear and adequate acknowledgment of the source.
* Collusion is the presentation of work performed in conjunction with another person or persons, but submitted as if it has been completed only by the named author(s).
* Copying is the use of material (in any medium, including computer files) produced by another person(s) with or without their knowledge and approval.
* Ghost writing is the use of another person(s) (with or without payment) to prepare all or part of an item submitted for assessment.

Do not engage in dishonest practices. The Department reserves the right to refer dishonest practices to the University Proctor and where appropriate to not mark the work.
The University regulations on academic integrity and dishonest practice can be found here.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,114.00

International fee $5,500.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

Limited Entry Course

Maximum enrolment is 40

For further information see Mechanical Engineering .

All ENME451 Occurrences

  • ENME451-21S2 (C) Semester Two 2021