Biomechanics Laboratory
Norwegian University for Sport and Physical Education
The Biomechanics Laboratory is part of a relatively new facility that was built in a 1995 expansion at Norges idrettshøgskole--the Norwegian University for Sport and Physical Education. The lab includes a large open space of about 250 square meters plus mechanical shop, storage and office spaces off the side of the lab. The lab structure provides an excellent resource for biomechanical motion analysis. With up to date research equipment, the facility allows the study of human motion on a variety of sport, locomotion, and clinical topics.
Equipment in the lab includes a large (3 x 4 meter) treadmill used primarily for cross-country ski research. Three-dimensional motion is measured within the lab space using a Qualisys Pro Reflex system. The eight cameras allow 240 frame per second automated capture of position data from passive reflective markers on a person or equipment. Four AMTI force plates can be placed in various configurations in the laboratory and synchronized with 3-D motion data.
Research topics explored in the Biomechanics Lab in recent years have included various aspects of sport performance, injury mechanisms and rehabilitation. Faculty associated with the lab have interests in technique relationships to sport performance, locomotion optimization and its modeling, and temporal characteristics of cyclical movement patterns. Students at the bachelors, masters and doctoral levels work in the laboratory with their own topics and with ongoing lab projects. Collaborations with other Norwegian programs such as testing of athletes through the nearby Toppidrettssenter, clinically aimed research carried on by the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, and international collaborations provide opportunity for student involvement with a wide variety of research projects. Potential graduate students should contact the biomechanics group leader (Gerald Smith, email: gerald.smith@nih.no) about application procedures and background prerequisites. Students with strong mathematics/physics/engineering backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply for graduate admission and support.
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Electromyography and other analog signals can be telemetered to recording computers for wireless measurement of neuromuscular, or mechanical characteristics. Various computer workstations, video hardware, analysis software and other typical research tools are also available in the laboratory and the nearby computing workroom.