Graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Utah’s American Society of Biomechanics Student (ASB) chapter are leading a robust, year-round outreach effort designed to introduce young learners to biomechanics while showcasing the interdisciplinary nature of STEM applications to health and human movement. Through monthly classroom visits and large-scale campus events, the student chapter is expanding access to biomechanics education while providing meaningful leadership and learning opportunities for its members.
One cornerstone of the chapter’s outreach is a student-led mentoring program in which ASB members visit fourth-grade classrooms to deliver hands-on biomechanics lessons. These sessions introduce students to topics such as sports science, rehabilitation, orthopedics, balance, and injury prevention, emphasizing how math and science concepts are applied to real-world health problems.
Activities are designed and taught by university students, allowing elementary learners to engage directly with STEM role models who study how the human body moves and adapts.
For the ASB students themselves, visiting classrooms has become an important part of their own professional development.
“The students that we get to work with are so bright, and it is my favorite thing to watch as they have those ‘lightbulb’ moments of understanding”, says Emma Caringella, a master’s student in the Department of Health & Kinesiology. “At the end of each visit, students discuss what they learned and what they would like to learn next like robotics, prosthetics, balance, and I am always energized by their curiosity and inquisitiveness.”
In addition to monthly mentoring, the ASB Student Chapter hosts an annual National Biomechanics Day event, a worldwide celebration of biomechanics in its many forms. At the University of Utah, the event brings local high school students to campus to explore biomechanics through hands-on demonstrations led by multiple research labs. The chapter has historically partnered with the University of Utah’s PATHS program to support these events, helping students explore research spaces, interact with graduate students, and learn about educational pathways in science, engineering, and health. This year, the ASB Student Chapter partnered with Backman Elementary School to host an afternoon of interactive demonstrations for students and their families. Demonstrations ranged from completing 3D puzzles of the human foot; walking on a balance beam understand how humans avoid falling; wearing a dinosaur-inspired tail to understand how moment of inertia affects our agility and ability to turn; testing “smart” construction helmets; using mobile phones to visualize skeletal motion during dancing; and controlling robotic limbs with electrical signals from muscles. The ASB Student Chapter was able to support the event, which reached approximately 300 students and family members, using a grant that Caringella obtained from the Biomechanics Initiative, a worldwide non-profit organization supporting biomechanics outreach and education.
A defining strength of the ASB Student Chapter is its cross-campus composition. Although founded within the College of Health, the chapter is intentionally transdepartmental and transcollege. Current members represent academic homes including health and kinesiology, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, and related disciplines, with students drawn from at least 10 different research labs and five or more departments across the university. This structure reflects the inherently interdisciplinary nature of biomechanics and enriches both outreach and student training by bringing together varied perspectives on human movement and health.
That interdisciplinary exposure extends beyond campus through national leadership and collaboration.
“Being part of the American Society of Biomechanics has shown me the impact that passionate students can have in supporting scientific rigor and creativity in biomechanics,” says Paula Kramer, a doctoral student in Health and Kinesiology and the National ASB Student Representative. “Through connecting with other biomechanists, I’ve learned how staying engaged as a community allows us to learn from one another and amplify the broader impact of biomechanics.”
The ASB Student Chapter is led by a team of graduate students whose research spans multiple labs and disciplines:
- Brooklyn Vargas, a biomedical engineering doctoral student in the Orthopedic Research Lab, serves as president of the ASB Student Chapter.
- Bergen Braun, also a biomedical engineering doctoral student in the Orthopedic Research Lab, serves as vice president.
- Emma Caringella, a doctoral student in the Department of Health & Kinesiology working in the Sayu Lab for Biomechanics and Locomotion, serves as outreach chair and coordinates classroom visits and educational programming.
- Ruba Alraqibah, a mechanical engineering doctoral student in the Neuroergonomics Lab, serves as secretary, supporting chapter operations and communication.
- Paula Kramer represents the University of Utah nationally as the ASB student representative and serves on the American Society of Biomechanics executive board, working with student chapters across the United States and internationally, including Canada.
“It’s incredibly fulfilling to be that connection between our research and the real world,” says Ruba Alraqibah, a mechanical engineering doctoral student in the Neuroergonomics Lab. “Outreach taught me that accessibility is everything. Being able to share what I love about biomechanics and show young students that they too can be part of finding solutions that improve people’s lives every day is one of the most meaningful parts of my experience here.”
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