1. First inaugural issue of the International Journal of Human Modeling and Simulation is published; listing of papers below.2. Open Positions available at VSR: Students and Staff.3. Dr. Laura Frey-Law wins Award SAE Digital Human Modeling in France.4. Dr. Dan Anton, joins VSR as ergonomics expert.5. Demonstration of Santos at the 50th Annual HFES, San Francisco.6. Dr. Salam Rahmatallah, Research Engineer at=20VSR receives funding from Caterpillar to study whole body vibration.7. Dr. Nicole Grosland Receives $1.98 Million=20NIH Grant To Develop Biomechanics Toolkit8. VSR and Corporate Partners Receive Major Defense Funding(1) First issues of the International Journal of Human Modeling and Simulation is published. The journal webpage can be found at:
<https://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=124>https://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=124 Vol. 1, No. 1 contained the following papers:
Abdel-Malek, K., Yang, J., Marler, T., Beck, S., Mathai, A., Zhou, X., Patrick, A. and Arora, J. (2006) 'Towards a new generation of virtual humans', Int. J. of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.2*39.
Oudenhuijzen, A.J.K., Seitz, T. and Bubb, H. (2006) 'Accuracy assessment of a model-based human motion measurement system, a pilot study', Int. J. of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.40*51. Li, K., Duffy, V.G. and Zheng, L. (2006) 'Universal accessibility assessments through virtual interactive design', Int. J. of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.52*68. Kim, J.H., Abdel-Malek, K., Yang, J. and Marler, R.T. (2006) 'Prediction and analysis of human motion dynamics performing various tasks', Int. J. Human Factors Modelling and Simulation, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.69*94. Noorinaeini, A. and Lehto, M.R. (2006) 'Hybrid singular value decomposition; a model of human text classification', Int. J. of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.95*118. Gore, B.F. and Smith, J. (2006) 'Risk assessment and human performance modelling: the need for an integrated systems approach', Int. J. Human Factors Modelling and Simulation, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.119*139. Bubb, H., Engstler, F., Fritzsche, F., Mergl, Ch., Sabbah, O., Schaefer, P. and Zacher, I. (2006) 'The development of RAMSIS in past and future as an example for the cooperation between industry and university', Int. J. of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.140*157.(2) Positions available at VSR: Students and Staff.Post-doc1 Post Doc Dynamics lead (computational dynamics, optimization, robotics)
Graduate Students (engineering)4 Graduate students (PhD level) in Dynamics for research work in modeling specific physics-based human motion tasks (and modeling walking sideways/backwards), strength and fatigue modeling.1 Graduate student (PhD level) for research on advanced collision avoidance methodsGraduate Students (computer science)1 Undergraduate for motion-capture validation experiments4 Graduate students (MS level) for posture prediction, muscle modeling, zone differentiation, databases, Shoulder models Software Engineers1 Full-time product developer (3) Dr. Laura Frey Law wins the Most Outstanding Small Group Presentation Award at the July, 2006 SAE Digital Human Modeling Conference in Lyon, France. Laura Frey Law, PhD, PT, won the Most Outstanding Small Group Presentation Award at the July, 2006 SAE Digital Human Modeling Conference in Lyon, France. The poster, "Simulating Motor Units for Fatigue in Arm Muscles in Digital Humans," Q. Yang, R.P.S. Han, and L.A. Frey Law, included their work on adapting a mathematical muscle model to the level of motor units to predict muscle fatigue. To demonstrate the adapted model's feasibility, they simulated an isometric elbow flexion task using three synergist muscles, biceps brachii, brachioradialis, and brachialis muscles, comparing their findings to experimentally obtained values. This new modeling approach was able to accurately predict time to fatigue, making it potentially useful for more generalized muscle modeling applications, such as digital human modeling. (4) Dr. Dan Anton, PhD, PT, ATC Assistant Professor in the College of Public Health and expert in ergonomics, joins the VSR team.
Dan Anton joined the University of Iowa as Associate Research Scientist in 2002 after receiving his PhD in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health and he joined the faculty as Assistant professor in 2002. Dr. Anton had a distinguished career for over 13 years as a Physical Therapist. His area of research expertise is in physical exposure assessment, work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremity and spine, electromyography, electrogoniometry, occupational epidemiology, research design, construction and agricultural musculoskeletal disorders. (5) Steve Beck and Karim Abdel-Malek give presentation and demonstration of Santos at the 50th Annual meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society "Santos: A Physics-Based Digital Human Simulation Environment", Abdel-Malek, Arora, J., Yang, J., Marler, T, Beck, S, Swan, C., Frey-Law, L., Mathai, A., Murphy, C., Rahmatallah, S., and Patrick, A. AbstractThis paper will be focused on a comprehensive human modeling and simulation environment under development by the University of Iowa Virtual Soldier Research (VSR) program. This environment, called SANTOS, is a new generation of digital human simulation systems that allows for a user to interact with a digital character with full and accurate biomechanics, a complete muscular system, and subject to the laws of physics. Research conducted by this team of 36 researchers will be presented, highlighting major results in the area of dynamic motion prediction, modeling of clothing, modeling of muscle activation and loading, modeling of human performance measures, and the Santos intuitive interface. This paper will present the various modules that comprise the Santos environment. (6) Dr. Salam Rahmatallah, Research Engineer at VSR receives $250K in funding from Caterpillar to study whole body vibration. Dr. Rahmatalla is conducting research in the area of seat comfort, motion capture, and low and high frequency vibrations. Chronic whole-body vibration exposure, as expected in large military and construction vehicles, has been associated with neck and back pain and injury. Obtaining data for understanding human responses to varied vibrational conditions would be a significant first step. Due to ethical considerations, cost, and potential injury risks, human vibration experimentation could be limited. For this reason, the development of a more general model of human response to vibration is necessary in order to predict human response to wider scenarios where it is very hard or even impossible to use human subjects. The long-term objective at the Virtual Soldier Research (VSR) program at the Center for Computer-Aided Design (CCAD) at The University of Iowa is to develop a human like computer model capable of reproducing human responses in whole body vibration environment and answering questions regarding potential injury risks and design modifications. While human response and performances to motion in a whole body vibration environment is very complicated, therefore, not only modeling, but also human experimentation, should be employed in the development and validation of any realistic living human model. In this regard, we are conducting experiments using motion capture systems, electromyography, tasks simulator, and typical heavy equipment ride files played back through a man-rated 6-degree of freedom (dof) motion platform, with each ride repeated using various arms positions. (7) Grosland Receives $1.98 Million NIH Grant To Develop Biomechanics Toolkit Nicole Grosland, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and researcher at the Center for Computer Aided Design (CCAD, has been awarded a four-year, $1.98 million grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a software toolkit to help physicians better understand the behavior of human bones and joints. The objective of the study is to develop a musculoskeletal-related software toolkit. Grosland, who holds a joint appointment in orthopaedics and rehabilitation in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, adds that automated, patient-specific 3-D models will have important applications in biomechanics. In 2005, Grosland and her colleagues received a $290,000 NIBIB grant for related research in developing techniques to automatically generate models of human bones and joints directly from medical images, such as those generated by computerized tomography (CT). The automated models would provide immediate information on joints, compared to current modeling techniques that take several days. "Ultimately," she says, "a software package to automate the development of patient-specific models will help us provide information to clinicians about the load transfer characteristics of normal joints and in the future to demonstrate, for example, the effects of various surgical procedures." The software toolkit will, in turn, be integrated into the toolkit of the National Alliance of Medical Imaging Computing (NA-MIC). NA-MIC, directed by Ron Kinkinis of Bringham and Women's Hospital, is an interdisciplinary team of computer scientists, software engineers, and medical investigators from institutions across the country that develop computational tools for the analysis and visualization of medical image data. The NA-MIC software package is available to the greater medical research community. Grosland's colleagues on the project are Vincent Magnotta, Ph.D., assistant professor of adiology and psychiatry in the Carver College of Medicine and CCAD researcher; Brian Adams, M.D., professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation in the Carver College of Medicine; Kiran Shivanna, Ph.D., postdoctoral scholar of CCAD; and Nicole Kallemeyn and Nicole DeVries, research assistants in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Collaborators from the NA-MIC consortium include Steve Pieper, Ph.D., of Brigham and Women's/Isomics, and Simon Warfield, Ph.D., of Brigham and Women's/Harvard. (8) VSR, Corporate Partners Receive Major Defense Funding The Virtual Soldier Research (VSR) program, along with three eastern Iowa corporate partners of the College of Engineering, will be receiving major funding from a U.S. Department of Defense appropriations bill approved by the House Senate conference committee. The bill is expected to be passed by the House and Senate next week and signed by President Bush. CCAD will receive $1.95 million for its digital human simulation project to help develop the U.S. Army future combat system. Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids will get $3.9 million for additional advanced global positioning system receivers to enable the military to function more efficiently on the battlefield. The company also will receive $2 million for the development of software and hardware to be used in aircraft cockpits. The bill appropriates $1.2 million for Alcoa in Riverdale to research lowering the cost of lightweight cost-efficient surface crafts for the Navy and $2.05 million for the design and development of innovative aluminum structures for tactical vehicles. The bill also provides $5.85 million for the Rock Island Arsenal Support Program Initiative that brings in tenants. Funding for facility improvements will lower the Arsenal's operating costs, enabling it to be more competitive. In addition, the UI will get $4 million for research to accelerate and enhance the evaluation and treatment of military personnel and civilians with serious eye injuries and diseases. And the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in Middletown will receive $5.85 million for the manufacture of Abrams Tank 120mm cartridges and $3.25 million to improve the way munitions are produced.
Contact:
Virtual Soldier Research
Program
amalek@engineering.uiowa.edu
319-335-5676