Dr. Babak Hejrati’s work with Dr. Merryweather and Dr. Abbott under title of “Generating Arm-swing Trajectories in Real-time Using a Data-driven Model for Gait Rehabilitation with Self-selected Speed” published in IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering. Laboratory of Ergonomics and Safety congratulates him for this achievement and also for joining faculty of Mechanical Engineering at University of Maine.
Jon Mortensen presented his research of modeling directional neck stiffness and muscle coactivation in OpenSim at the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB 2017) conference in Boulder, Colorado. The presentation was well received and there was a lively question and answer session. Dr. Merryweather and Kyle Christian also attended the conference. 
Prof. Merryweather and his colleagues awarded the IEA/Liberty Mutual Medal for a paper published in Journal of Ergonomics. The paper with title of “Relationships between job organizational factors, biomechanical and psychosocial exposures” is published by Stephen S. Bao, Jay M. Kapellusch, Andrew S. Merryweather, Mathew S. Thiese, Arun Garg, Kurt T. Hegmann & Barbara A. Silverstein.
The IEA/Liberty Mutual Award in Occupational Safety and Ergonomics was instituted in 1998. The award and a cash prize of US$ 10,000 recognizes outstanding original research leading to the reduction or mitigation of work-related injuries and/or to the advancement of theory, understanding, and development of occupational safety research.
Prof. Andrew S. Merryweather and his colleagues published a paper in the journal of Safety Science under title of “Occupational Factors Related to Slips, Trips and Falls among Home Healthcare Workers” .
For more information about the article click here.
The Mapleton Press: Whether they’re working with crop production, livestock or the typical daily tasks related to working on the farm, potential for farmers getting hurt when lifting or moving objects is a daily reality.
Andrew Merryweather, University of Utah Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Ergonomics and Safety Program at the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, says the agriculture industry and forestry/fishing industry are often the top occupations with the highest risk and incidence of lifting injuries.
Kryztopher, Melynda, Amir, Jon and Kyle awarded Dr. Paul Richards Safe Workplace Scholarships. The Workers Compensation Fund generously awards this scholarship each year to students of the Rocky Mountain Center.
Maggie Patterson, an undergraduate member of laboratory presented in 2017 Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society annual conference with the title of “Using Motion Capture Techniques to Improve the Gait Therapy Options for Patients with Parkinson Disease”. Dr. Hang Xu, former PhD member of the Lab. also presented there with the title of “Vacuum Level Effects on Knee Contact Force for Unilateral Transtibial Amputee with Elevated Vacuum Suspension”.
We are pleased to welcome Mitja Trkov, PhD to the Laboratory of Ergonomics and Safety. Mitja is a post-doctoral fellow in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Utah. He received his BSc in Ljubljana, Slovenia and his PhD at Rutgers University, NJ in 2007 and 2016, respectively. Prior to pursuing graduate studies he also worked in industry as an R&D engineer in a company that designed and manufactured carbon yachts.
His research interest lies at the intersection of biomechanics, mechatronics and injury prevention. The focus of his PhD dissertation was slip detection and fall prevention during human walking analyzed using the experimental and theoretical approaches. His research experiences includes biomechanical and tribological modeling and analyses, design and control of electro-mechanical devices, and modeling and control of dynamical systems for simulation-based and experimental studies. His work on slip detection was awarded a Best Student Paper Award at the 2015 Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) conference.
He enjoys spending his spare time outdoors with his family, doing sports and traveling.
Dr. Merryweather had a talk on “Innovations to Address Preventable Falls” in the 11th Annual Research Retreat Center on Aging, University of Utah as a keynote speaker. This symposium held on April 27- 28, 2017 at James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology / USTAR Building, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dr. Rami Shorti, a member of Laboratory of Ergonimics and Safety, received Outstanding Dissertation Award from Department of Mechanical Engineering. Shorti’s dissertation is entitled, “Step negotiation biomechanics during truck cab egress and the effects of anthropometrics and cab design on fall biomechanics etiology.”
