Day: May 12, 2009

SMART Scholarship

Department of Defense

Very competitive, but a super opportunity.

Applications open in August, deadline in December

The Science, Mathematics And Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program has been established by the Department of Defense (DoD) to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

SMART Scholars Receive:
• Cash award paid at a rate of $25,000 – $41,000 per
year depending on prior educational experience
• Full tuition and related education expenses
• Health Insurance
• Book allowance
• Summer Internships (multi-year participants)
• Post-Graduation Career Opportunities

SMART Brochure

Tech Today

by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor

Do obese people avoid exercise because the equipment is not designed for them?

Does the pain or discomfort sometimes associated with exercise keep them from working out?

A Michigan Tech researcher is looking at how exercise equipment might be hindering workouts of the obese.

“I want to know if using this ergometer [rowing machines] leads to different movement kinematics and therefore joint loads, depending on body shape, for example,” says Karen Roemer, assistant professor of biomechanics in the exercise science, health and physical education department. “Potentially, we could give equipment manufacturers suggestions for new designs.”

Roemer is using some high-tech equipment for her research, and, thanks to a $26,700 grant from the Michigan Tech Research Excellence Fund, she will be able to do even more.

“We are using reflective markers [tiny sensor-balls] attached to the skin, then shooting them with multiple cameras,” she says. Similar to modeling Tiger Woods’ swing for a videogame, the many markers are translated via software that reproduces the movement.

“These are complex biomechanical problems,” Roemer says. “For modeling the knee joint, we used scans performed in an open MRI scanner and data from motion analysis using 80 reflective markers and 12 digital cameras.”

The result is a multi-body knee-joint model that looks like it came from the Matrix: complicated processes and images broken down by all the markers, then reassembled to resemble the real joint. And it takes time.

“Normally, digitizing one movement analyzed with video cameras can take six to eight weeks,” she said. “But with the new system in my lab I will be able to do it within a few days.”

Roemer did similar research in her native Germany at the Chemnitz University of Technology’s Department of Sport Science before coming to Tech. She also worked with the German national volleyball team. Based on motion analysis performed during European League games, the kinematics of fairly complicated joints, such as the shoulder, can be analyzed.

Other simulation studies allow for analyzing other aspects. For the stress on knees, for example, she tests on the rowing machine and stationary bike and while walking or running.

For gait and running analysis, a special force plate has been installed in Roemer’s new lab in the SDC. When the movement of a reflector-laden runner is captured crossing the plate, data can be gathered instantly into computers.

The three dimensions of the ground reaction force resulting from the foot hitting the floor, for example, are shown on the computer screen in red arrows shooting up through the person’s body.

She is also interested in daily movements, such as the gait, and what problems exist with joint loads, for example, that can be compared to more-intense movements.

All this time- and technology-intensive work is worth the wait, however, if it helps fight the weight.

Tech Today

by Jennifer Donovan, public relations director

The Midwest Regional Center of the National Institute for Climate Change Research, based at Michigan Tech, has awarded $1.5 million in US Department of Energy grants for four new collaborative research projects in seven states, as well as eight continuing projects.

The newly funded initiatives involve researchers from the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Minnesota, the University of California, Kansas State University and the University of Illinois.

They will investigate forest carbon dynamics; interactions among water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen in a grassland ecosystem; the effects of warming and changes in rainfall on root systems and soil carbon decomposition in a grassland ecosystem; and the interaction of elevated temperature and carbon dioxide on a soybean ecosystem.

“I’m very excited by the new group of projects the Midwestern Regional Center is funding,” said Andrew Burton, director of the center and associate professor in SFRES. “These new studies will continue the center’s and Michigan Tech’s strong involvement in examining the way forests, wetlands, grasslands and crops will respond to changing temperature and moisture.”

Since the center was established in December 2005, it has supported $7 million in collaborative research projects in its 13-state region.

“The research we have supported will improve our basic understanding of how terrestrial ecosystems may respond to climatic change and will help provide a solid scientific basis for determining appropriate responses,” Burton said.