Posted
on Sep 2, 2014 in “Faculty”
Billiar,
WPI provide a presence at recent World Congress of Biomechanics
•
While
studying mechanical engineering as an undergraduate at Cornell
University, Professor Kris Billiar came across a course on
biomechanics, and was fascinated by the concept.
“I
loved to tinker with machines and such,” he says, “but I thought
the body was the coolest machine, because it could actually change in
response to what you do.”
Biomechanics,
which employs the principles of mechanics to study biological
problems, is a wide-ranging and growing field, spanning all the way
from the molecular level to full organisms – humans, animals, and
plants alike.
Every
four years, the leaders in the field and upcoming protégés get
together to discuss new developments, research, challenges, and
opportunities as part of the World Congress of Biomechanics, held
this year in July at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center.
Billiar,
a professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering and
a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, served as a
liaison for ASME, helping organize numerous sessions.
The
seventh annual, six-day event brought together engineers, biologists,
mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists, chemists, and
scientists with various clinical specialties to study everything from
basic biology to the latest technological advancements in more than
400 different sessions.
Because
of its location and the growing interest in the field, it attracted
4,000-plus attendees from at least 50 countries, Billiar says,
calling it “by far the largest biomechanics conference ever.”
In
the past, the World Congress has been held in California and cities
around the world, typically drawing around 2,000 participants. The
next is scheduled to be held in 2018 in Dublin.
Because
of its proximity to Worcester, many WPI professors, students, and
even local middle school teachers had the opportunity to participate,
he says.
“WPI
was there in force, all the way from undergraduates and teachers to
graduate students and professors, who were organizers, session
chairs, presenters, and volunteers,” says Billiar. “We took full
advantage of it.
“I’m
most proud that many students from around the country participating
in our National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Research Experiences
for Undergraduates (REU) program and local middle school teachers
participating in our NSF-funded Research Experiences for Teachers
(RET) program were able to attend the conference,” he adds. “It’s
quite an experience to attend an international conference of this
scale and see all of the amazing research being presented!”
RANGE
OF TOPICS
At
any given time during the event, he says, there were 20 parallel
sessions taking place on a range of topics, with tracks of talks
organized by scale from the whole body, to tissues and cells, and
even at the molecular level. Speakers discussed topics ranging from
the biomechanics of injuries, to pediatric cardiology, to ligaments
and tendons, gait, plaque vulnerability, motor control, reproductive
health, dental mechanics, tissue engineering, cell forces, and how
swimmers generate and use flow.
Meanwhile,
larger plenary sessions featured more than a dozen respected names in
the field, including Dennis Discher from the University of
Pennsylvania, Farshid Guilak from Duke University, and Melody Swartz
from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.
Billiar,
himself, led sessions on research he’s doing at WPI on
mechanobiology, which he says is an emerging field at the
intersection of biomechanics and cell biology.
In
his tissue mechanics and mechanobiology lab, which he established in
2002, WPI students and faculty members investigate the influence of
the local mechanical environment – such as stiffness, deformation,
and various forces – on development, growth and healing of soft
connective tissue.
“It’s
understanding how a cell, or even molecules, work by pulling and
pushing them, putting them in soft and stiff environments, and
analyzing the cell’s behavior computationally,” he explains.
As
he predicts, there’s going to be a “new phase” of personalized
medical care that will also include mechanical medicines that can
modify cells’ behavior and sensitivity to existing treatments.
“There’s a growing understanding that the mechanical environment
modifies how cells actually behave,” he says. “If we can
understand how and why cells respond to their mechanical
surroundings, we can start controlling for that, and create much more
effective treatments.”
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