The visit showcased how biomechanics can help serve people with unmet needs and highlighted the field’s potential as a college major and career path.
A group of 40 high school students from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics visited several UNC-Chapel Hill biomechanic labs on April 11 to learn more about the emerging field, which uses tools from engineering to understand and improve the structure and function of biological systems.
They were among the thousands of high school students that toured lab sites across the country as part of the third annual National Biomechanics day.
“The event is designed to get high school students excited about the field of biomechanics,” said Jason Franz, assistant professor in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at Carolina and North Carolina State University. “We want to show how biomechanics can help serve people with unmet needs and show the field’s potential as a college major and career path.”
At Carolina, the local high school students visited five stations, learning about muscle movement, motion tracking, ultrasound and other aspects of biomechanics, as well as how techniques like virtual reality and motion capture have improved the field.
Students from the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering organized the visit and were on hand to answer questions from the high school students about the technology and the field of biomechanics.
National Biomechanics Day organizers hope the event can continue to grow in the years ahead, inspiring new students to enter biomechanics at a time when technology and techniques are leading to more solutions to health-related challenges than ever before.
Story and video by Rob Holliday, University Communications
