The Applied Biomechanics Laboratory, led by BME Associate Professor Jason Franz, was notified this summer that two laboratory members were selected as the two finalists for the 2021 Journal of Biomechanics Award at this year’s American Society of Biomechanics (ASB) meeting. Both finalists, BME Senior Callum J. Funk (Exploring the functional boundaries and metabolism of triceps surae force-length relations during walking) and UNC Medical Student Shawn Ahuja (The metabolic cost of walking balance control and adaptation in young adults) were invited to deliver a podium presentation at the annual virtual meeting in August. In the conference’s closing ceremony, it was announced that Funk had won the prestigious Award.
The Journal of Biomechanics Award recognizes substantive and conceptually novel mechanics approaches explaining how biological systems function. It is one of the highest honors at the ASB conference. In the history of the award, it was unprecedented to have the award finalists selected from the same research group; the top rated scientific abstracts are fully blinded before being reviewed by an independent review committee. Many Congratulations to Funk and his coauthors (BME post-doc Rebecca Krupenevich, Georgia Tech faculty Gregory Sawicki, and senior author Jason Franz), as well as to finalist Shawn Ahuja for delivering exceptional presentations! To read the official announcement of the award finalists, please visit the American Society of Biomechanics website here.