Mini-symposium: Balance control during walking
On the occasion of the PhD defence of Mark Vlutters, we will organise a mini symposium on "Balance control during walking”.This topic will be approached and discussed from three different perspectives: 1) using simple models to understand locomotion and its stability, 2) the development of robotic devices to support balance during training and every day life and 3) using smart sensors to monitor balance and predict falls during every day life.
WHEN: Wednesday December 13, 10.30 - 11.45
WHERE: Carre 2N
PROGRAM
10.30 | Prof. dr. Andre Seyfarth (Technische Universität Darmstadt): Legged Locomotion - Biomechanics and Control |
10.55 | Prof. dr. ir. Heike Vallery (Delft University of Technology): Supporting human locomotion and balance by robotic intervention at the upper body |
11.20 | Prof. dr. Mirjam Pijnappels (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam): Predicting falls with sensor based gait quality measures in daily life |
11.45 | End of Symposium |
12.30 | StartPhD Defense Mark Vlutters (in Waaier 4) |
SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF SPEAKERS
Andre Seyfarth was born 1970. He studied physics in Jena, Berlin and Dijon (1989-1995). During his Ph.D. he focused on the study on the biomechanics of elastic limbs in dynamic locomotor conditions like in running and jumping. As a Post-Doc he visited the MIT Leg Lab (2001-2002) and the Balgrist University Hospital in Zurich (2002-2003). Since 2003 he is the head of the Lauflabor Locomotion Laboratory (www.lauflabor.de), which was founded within the framework of the DFG Emmy-Noether Programme. In 2011 he became a professor on sports biomechanics at the Technische Universität in Jena. Main research topics are legged locomotion including gait analysis, biomechanical simulation models, legged robots and assistive devices including prosthetics, orthotics and soft exosuits. He is a founding member of the Centre for Cognitive Science at Technische Universität Darmstadt which was established in 2016.
Heike Vallery received her Dipl.-Ing. degree in Mechanical Engineering (with honors) from RWTH Aachen University in 2004 and her Dr.-Ing. in robotics from the Technische Universität München in 2009. Today, she is a full professor at TU Delft. Her research interests are in bipedal locomotion and robotic assistance for patients with gait disorders. She has published more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in this area, filed 7 patent applications, and received diverse fellowships and awards, such as the 1st prize of the euRobotics Technology Transfer Award 2014 for the gait rehabilitation robot “THE FLOAT”, or a Vidi fellowship in 2016 from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.
Mirjam Pijnappels is professor in Mobility in Ageing at the department of Human Movement Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her research is aimed to understand the effects of ageing on neuromuscular and cognitive aspects of mobility (i.e., physical function and physical activity) and to implement this knowledge with assistive technology to maintain and promote mobility of older individuals in their own environment. She uses experimental studies (neuromuscular and biomechanical analyses), epidemiological studies (prediction models based on longitudinal cohort data), implementation of technological devices (e.g. accelerometry, kinect, smartphones, smartwatches) and interventions on fall prevention and active ageing in daily life behaviour. https://research.vu.nl/en/persons/mirjam-pijnappels