This summer, I had the opportunity to present my research at the 2018 World Congress of Biomechanics in Dublin, Ireland. As the premier meeting worldwide in the field of biomechanics, this was an incredible opportunity to network with scientists in this field, both within my subfield of biomechanics and far outside of it. I especially enjoyed this aspect of the conference because as an IQ Biology student I am intrigued by interdisciplinarity and the intersection of biology and mechanics at different length scales.
The talks spanned many areas of interest, but some of my favorites were sports and injury biomechanics, cell biomechanics, tissue engineering, images and devices, and biomechanics education. There were about fifteen research presentation sessions going on at any given time which was overwhelming at first, but once I was able to navigate the conference, I liked having the freedom to decide if I wanted more depth or breadth each day.
In addition to attending so many great talks, I had the opportunity to present a poster showing my latest research results describing mechanisms of friction between bio-inspired micropatterns on medical devices and the in vivo tissue environment. During my poster presentation, I was able to network with several graduate students from around the world as well as some professors that are active researchers in my subfield of biomechanics. It was motivating to discuss and ideate with other scientists focused on biomechanics research because it opened some new perspectives in thinking about my research. Overall, the conference was an awesome experience that reinforced my interest in the interdisciplinary field of biomechanics.
