The Nipissing Biomechanics & Ergonomics team extend our congratulations to our MScKin students who Convocated in June. We wish you all the best in your next steps!  

Connor Lacelle: Thesis title: Vertical computer mice and gaming: Effect of mouse orientation on muscle activation and performance.  

Emma McArthur: Thesis title: Effects of age on relationships between trunk kinematics and center of mass motion in the frequency domain during gait.  

Congratulations to all Nipissing MScKin, BPHE, and Concurrent Education graduates!

An Evening at Nipissing University showcased the spirit of discovery and transformative research experiences available to students at NU. Attendees engaged with student and faculty researchers to explore innovative projects shaping our future.  

Hosted by Nipissing University’s Chancellor, Dr. Scott Russell, this special evening celebrated curiosity, creativity, and the impact of student research in our communities and beyond. Proceeds from the evening will support the Student Research Opportunity Fund, to expand access to hands-on research experiences for Nipissing students across all areas of study.  

Drs. Dean Hay and Geoff Hartley, MScKin candidate Grace O’Neill, and undergraduate student Mike Travers represented the Biomechanics and Ergonomics Lab and the Exercise Physiology Lab for the evening, providing demonstrations of our labs’ equipment and insights into our research for attendees. Highlights included showcasing of our electromyography system (to measure muscle activity); cycle ergometer and metabolic equipment (to measure maximal oxygen uptake during exercise); and motion capture system (to track 3D motion of the body).  

Congratulations to MScKin alumnus Denise Balogh, MScKin student Michelle Campbell, and Dr. Aaron Kociolek on their paper published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization, entitled, ‘Ultrasound image quality of the carpal tunnel during a pinch grip: effects of coupling media and wrist position. Denise led this research during her time at Nipissing as a MScKin student.  

The full article is available here: 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21681163.2024.2312171 

Congratulations to Connor Lacelle on the successful defense of his thesis entitled ‘Vertical computer mice and gaming: Effect of mouse orientation on muscle activation and performance’. We wish Connor all the best with his future endeavours! 

As part of Nipissing University’s Research Month, NU360 is an event that highlights the variety and innovation of Nipissing’s research, with faculty members provided with just 360 seconds to share their expertise and insights with the audience. NU360 gives faculty the opportunity to engage with our North Bay community and communicate their research in an easy-to-understand way. Congratulations to Dr. Alison Schinkel-Ivy for taking home the top prize with her presentation entitled ‘‘70 is the new 30’: Exploring biomechanical changes across adulthood’. This talk highlighted how examining the relationships between different biomechanical aspects of everyday tasks may reveal movement declines and strategies for compensation in older adults.

The Biomechanics and Ergonomics team wishes to extend a big thank you to Kevin O’Reilly, our long-time lab technologist in the SPHE, as he moves on to his next endeavours.  

Kevin played a big role in supporting the students and staff within the lab by building and fixing all types of equipment necessary for data collection and lab sessions. Not only was he a big technical help, but he was also a friend, providing our graduate students with insight, knowledge, and a sense of belonging. We could always count on him to listen to all our rambling, and to be someone with whom to laugh and share ideas and stories. His hard work and presence will be greatly missed within the lab. All the best to Kevin in his new role as laboratory technologist in Arts & Science! 

Students and faculty from the Nipissing Biomechanics and Ergonomics team recently travelled to Edmonton for the Canadian Society for Biomechanics/Société Canadienne de Biomécanique (CSB-SCB) Conference. Our team members attended talks on topics such as Markerless Motion Capture, Big Data in Biomechanics, Balance and Perturbations, and Ergonomics and Occupational Biomechanics, and presented three posters showcasing our students’ undergraduate and Master’s research. Congratulations to all our presenters!    

Hunter Carswell: How do relationships between spatiotemporal and kinematic domains during treadmill gait change across adulthood?    

Grace O’Neill: Age affects dynamic postural stability during obstacle crossing. 

Connor Lacelle: Performance and physical demands in vertical vs. horizontal computer mouse gaming. 

The Nipissing Biomechanics & Ergonomics faculty are delighted to congratulate our Convocating MScKin students, Denise Balogh, Hunter Carswell, and Shahla Ziamanesh. We wish you all the best in your ongoing academic and professional journeys!

Denise Balogh: Thesis title: Assessing ultrasound image quality and carpal tunnel dynamics in carpal tunnel syndrome patients versus healthy controls.

Hunter Carswell: Thesis title: Age-related changes in relationships between spatiotemporal and kinematic domains during treadmill gait.

Shahla Ziamanesh: Thesis title: Quantifying hand-arm vibration transmissibility during impact wrench use in fatiguing tasks.

Congratulations to all Nipissing MScKin, BPHE, and Concurrent Education graduates!

The Nipissing Biomechanics and Ergonomics team travelled to the Ontario Biomechanics Conference (OBC) in May 2024. OBC highlights biomechanics research excellence within Ontario, and provides networking and presentation opportunities for students. Five Nipissing students presented their undergraduate and Master’s research during several poster sessions over the three days. Congratulations to all our student presenters!  

Michelle Campbell: Examining sex differences in chuck grip force regulation.  

Hunter Carswell: Age affects the relationships between spatiotemporal and kinematics domains during treadmill gait.   

Emma McArthur: Effects of age on relationships between trunk kinematics and center of mass motion in the frequency domain during gait.  

Grace O’Neill: Does dynamic postural stability during quiet standing, gait, and obstacle crossing change with age? 

Mike Travers: Hip, knee, & ankle kinematic variation during 30-second Wingate test.

Congratulations to Mike Travers for presenting his poster entitled ‘Hip and ankle kinematic variation during 30-second Wingate tests’ at the 2024 Nipissing University Undergraduate Research Conference! Mike is a second year undergraduate student, supervised by Dr. Hay. This research was conducted as part of Mike’s Community Leadership Placement course in the Bachelor of Physical & Health Education program.