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I hope you are all enjoying the summer and are finding the time to recharge.  I am glad to report that the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB), our society, continues to flourish and to grow. For that, I would like to thank my ASB family, specifically the incredibly dedicated group of members serving on the Executive Board, and all the member volunteers, who serve on committees, review abstracts, etc.  I am very lucky to work with a group of people who truly care about our scientific community. THANK YOU!

While I have a few more months to serve as President of ASB, this is my last newsletter report as President.  I will use a “year-in-review” format to report on the top news, events and efforts that have kept us busy these past few months:

  1. First, congratulations to all ASB award winners! What an awesome group of diverse winners. I cannot wait to meet you all in person in Knoxville.
  2. The 2023 Program Chair, Dr. Ross Miller, and his committee members have an exciting program to share with us in Knoxville, TN. In addition to the outstanding scientific program, I personally look forward to experiencing the typical camaraderie that we find at ASB’s in-person meetings.  The Executive Board is thinking about how to best support newer presenters (including students) who may feel a little anxious about presenting for the first time after the pandemic.  Stay tuned for more information! In the meantime, ASB members are typically supportive of junior members’ career development. It’s a great conference to present at!
  3. The ASB Executive Board visited the 2023 meeting site in Knoxville, TN to finalize the conference planning logistics and to hold our winter board meeting onsite. We were graciously greeted by Dr. Jeff Reinbolt, 2023 Conference Chair, who is focused on making ASB 2023 a successful in-person meeting and making us all feel welcome in Knoxville! I have no doubt he will succeed.
  4. Our membership is growing! We held our spring Executive Board meeting virtually on 5/30/2023, and as of this date, we had nearly 200 new members in 2023 (compared to a total of 134 in 2022). Many thanks to Dr. Anahid (Ana) Ebrahimi, ASB’s amazingly organized Secretary, who is also chairing the Membership sub-committee of ASB, working hard on streamlining the membership management system with the help of Podium. Ana informed me a few moments ago that ASB just hit 1,000 members. Yeah!
  5. An exciting initiative is the formation of a Development Committee. This effort is led by our current Past President, Dr. Elizabeth T Hsiao-Wecksler, who is working with ASB’s Council of Fellows to form the new committee and define its mission and goals. This committee will oversee ASB’s fundraising activities (and much more!), supporting our society’s wonderful diversity-, equity- and inclusion-related activities.
  6. ASB cares tremendously about students and trainees. During our last Executive Board meeting, we discussed the registration cost and the cost of attending the society’s annual meeting for our students. After reviewing what other societies in our field offer to students and their registration / meeting cost (including historical data during times of high inflation), ASB’s Executive Board is convinced that, compared to other societies in our field, ASB offers the best value – cost trade-off for students and trainees. We plan to highlight soon via different forums (website, eblast, Annual Business Meeting) what ASB has to offer to students, including many networking & professional development opportunities, eligibility for numerous awards including travel awards, and much more. In addition, we would like to remind our members that as a non-profit, ASB’s budget is public. Our awesome treasurer, Ms. Maria Pasquale, plans to explain in detail at our Annual Business Meeting what the membership and conference registration revenues cover for the society.
  7. Please read the reports of each Chair. Great things are happening in many domains. I am particularly proud of Dr. Ajit Chaudhari’s work related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
  8. Special thanks to Dr. Melissa Morrow. She thought she was done serving on ASB’s Executive Board but did not hesitate to come back to help us when she was needed. She did a significant amount of work without asking for any recognition! These are the kind of people that I have worked with this past year … always caring about the wellbeing of our society.

I would like to conclude by thanking ASB members for the opportunity they gave me to serve our society and to work so closely with the great individuals serving on the Executive Board.  It has been a very rewarding experience. I encourage all students, trainees and researchers with primary interests in biomechanics to make ASB their home scientific society (spread the word!), to stay engaged, to participate in ASB’s activities and to explore what ASB has to offer. I know I am slightly biased, but that is okay: ASB is a great society to be affiliated with.  As always, feel free to reach out if you have questions.

I cannot wait for the annual meeting in Knoxville!

See you soon.