MECH student wins award at Ohio State University
Mechanical engineering masters student Seth Gilchrist received the Dr. Margaret H. Hines Award for Best Poster Presentation at the 9th Annual Injury Biomechanics Symposium (IBS) which took place at Ohio State University this past May.
His poster, titled “Characterizing the stiffness change of the proximal femur between quasi-static and dynamic loading in a fall configuration,” concentrates on the experimental results of a project that attempts to increase the understanding of how hip fractures occur.
Along with UBC Professors Pierre Guy and Peter Cripton, Gilchrist created a drop tower-based fall simulator which attempts to replicate the loading of the hip seen in a fall to the side from standing height. This is different from the traditional way of replicating a hip fracture, providing additional details that will allow scientists to make more accurate correlations between a certain bone structure and a certain fracture risk.
Hip fracture is a prevalent and growing problem in Canada with wide ranging social and financial consequences for the patient, their family and society as a whole.