Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
Interdisciplinary Research Team Conducts Second Large-Scale Data Collection While Supporting the Cadet Class of 2019 Boot Fit: On 30 June and 1 July, the research team comprised COL Michael Neary (KACH), Dr. Becky Zifchock (CME/CIE), and LTC Donald Goss (KACH), and their staff, along with their collaborators from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine (New York), the Hospital for Special Surgery (New York), Temple University (Philadelphia), Novel (a corporate partner from Munich, Germany), and over eighty student volunteers conducted a research study of the foot structure of the incoming cadet Class of 2019, while simultaneously supporting the Boot Fit on R-Day +1 and R-Day +2. More than 1150 incoming cadets volunteered to take part in the study, which is designed to assess static and dynamic foot structure.
Several measurements of each participant’s feet were taken at five discrete measurement stations in Washington Hall, while the cadets waited to be fitted for their boots. This provides information about both static and dynamic foot structure and function for this cadet class. The participants will be tracked throughout their four years at USMA. This will provide prospective data to support research questions such as the relationship between foot structure and susceptibility to overuse injury, and whether intense military training changes foot structure.
This is the second time this research team collected data during Boot Fit. This data collection was also carried out for the incoming cadet Class of 2017 in the summer of 2013. As in previous years, the Center for Innovation and Engineering provided funding to support volunteer travel, but the study and the cadet boot fit could not have been accomplished without major volunteer efforts of the teams from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine, the Hospital for Special Surgery, Temple University, and Novel.
Cadet/Faculty Research Presentations at International Conference: On 12-16 July Cadet Willahelm Wan and Dr. Becky Zifchock attended the 25th Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics in Glasgow, Scotland. CDT Wan presented his own research, and Dr. Zifchock presented an abstract on behalf of CDT Regina Parker who was unable to attend the meeting. The presented research was based on the independent study projects that Cadets Wan and Parker conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Zifchock, which looked at the effects of foot structure on the shapes and magnitudes of ground reaction forces of running. Cadets Wan and Parker will continue this line of research in their final year at USMA, with the intent of submitting a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
In addition to attending scientific sessions and seminars on high quality research and scientific topics during the conference, the trip was an excellent opportunity for Cadet Wan and Dr. Zifchock to interact with professional peers and colleagues. Cadet Wan made connections with students from Finland, Taiwan, South Africa, the US, and several other countries.