Distinguished Lecture

     On July 10, 2024, all of COSMOS congregated in an assembly hall to watch the first of a Distinguished Lectures series, where one professor specializing in their respective math or science field would educate the attendees on what may not be taught in our own clusters. This past week, we had the opportunity to attend Dr. Alexandra Voloshina’s lecture about kinesiology and mechanical engineering, with a focus on prosthetics and their real-world implications. She explained how it was important to understand the fundamental way in which people move to not only perfect the nuances of the human body, but to also allow for better disability treatments. Moving is one of the most crucial aspects of life, one which we arguably cannot live without. Dr. Voloshina also posed the very intriguing question of why babies tend to walk rather abnormally when they are still young, compared to the typical walking style of humans. Such answers allow scientists and researchers to develop prosthetics to combat any biological anomalies - also allowing them to experiment with different functioning prosthetics made for different purposes. 

    She continued with the idea of prosthetics and explored the relationship with the human body and the mechanics of a given prosthetic. She showed multiple examples where human subjects adapted in different ways with their prosthetics. While some types of prosthetics allowed for some dependence on individual muscles and joints, others inhibited the wearer's ability to assert control over their movements. She explained that these differences in wearer usability are what make wearable robotics and prosthetics a tricky field to navigate. She closed off the lecture with a reflection on how the movements we make unconsciously can be broken down motion by motion using wearable technology and science.