2023 was my first full year as the ASB Education Chair, and I was extremely fortunate to have an amazing group of ambitious ASB members on the Education Committee. The committee has been divided into sub-committees working on the Regional Meetings, Graduate Student Grants-In-Aid, Teaching Repository, and ASB Meeting-Related Initiatives. Each committee has worked extremely hard and communicated regularly to accomplish its goals.
Regional Meetings
This year’s Regional Meetings were some of the strongest applications we’ve seen yet. Attending a regional meeting can be a great way to get involved in the Society and network within your local biomechanics community. If you are interested in hosting, please begin planning early and feel free to reach out to me (asbeducation@asbweb.org). Applications are always due on September 30th for the upcoming year. We are happy to announce that the ASB 2024 Regional Meetings will take place across the country at five locations:
Estes Park, CO
4/5-4/6/2024
Contact: Kota Takahashi kota.takahashi@utah.edu
South Central ASB
Fort Worth, TX
4/12-4/13/2024
Contact: Adam King a.king@tcu.edu
Northeast ASB
Rochester, NY
4/26-4/27/2024
Contact: Ram Haddas Ram_Haddas@URMC.Rochester.edu
Northwest Biomechanics Symposium
Eugene, OR
5/17-5/18/2024
Contact: Andy Karduna karduna@uoregon.edu
Great Plains Biomechanics Symposium
Omaha, NE
5/29-5/30/2024
Contact: Philippe Malcom pmalcolm@unomaha.edu
Graduate Student Grants-In-Aid
The 2023 GIAs were awarded to Aubrey Gray, Jorie Budzikowski, Molly Shepherd, and Jacob Thomas, and we look forward to hearing from them at the Annual Meeting in Madison. 2024 applications are currently under review. These awards are an excellent opportunity to practice grant writing, and receive real funding for your research projects. The applicant pool for these awards has dipped in the past few years, so please encourage your students to apply! For more information click here!
ASB Resource Repository
In 2023 we successfully migrated the old ASB Teaching repository to a new, free Google Sites version. We are working to centralize resources of all types in the Repository to make it more accessible to the community. This will centrally organize resources for teaching, outreach, professional development, and more. I encourage you to submit any resources you think could be helpful to others here. Alternatively, if you feel you could benefit from a particular resource but can’t find it, please email me (asbeducation@asbweb.org), and the repository team and I will help you find it.
Education-Related Content at the Annual Meetings
In 2023, the Education Committee helped to promote a return of Education and Outreach content to pre-pandemic levels. This included a dedicated podium session to teaching and outreach, a workshop to promote advancing pedagogical practices in biomechanics, and a symposium to guide attendees toward getting involved in the scholarship of teaching and learning. I learned a lot from this content, and we have used our experience to continue our push for education-related content at future ASB meetings.
Looking Forward
In 2024 we plan to continue to promote education-related content at ASB and Regional Meetings, supporting graduate students, and organizing resources through the repository. We are continuing to find ways to support students at all levels, as well as teaching-track and education-research faculty, to broaden the reach of ASB. We are always looking for motivated people to help, so please contact me if you are interested. I look forward to catching up with you in Madison this summer and I wish you the best in your education endeavors in the spring 2024 semester!