Biomechanics

Professor Bart-Smith joined the University of Virginia faculty in the fall of 2002. Dr. Bart-Smith came to UVA from Princeton University where she worked at the Princeton Materials Institute with A.G. Evans. Bart-Smith has founded the Multifunctional Materials and Structures Laboratory and the Bio-inspired Engineering Research Laboratory.

Silvia Blemker uses experimental and computational models to characterize the relationships between muscle structure, biomechanical properties, biology, and function in order to develop new treatments for musculoskeletal disease

Jason Forman's research includes the development and biofidelity evaluation of anthropomorphic test devices, the execution of  impact biomechanics in simulated automobile environments, the development of injury risk functions with dummies and computational models, analysis for injury risk evaluation, and investigating the effects on injury risk.

Gavin Garner joined the University of Virginia faculty in 2009. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Colby College and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia in both Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. 

Dr. Hartka is currently board certified in Emergency Medicine and works clinically in the Emergency Department. He is also involved in medical student education, resident education, biomechanical instrumentation, and motor vehicle collision analysis.

Dr. Kent is the Frederick Tracy Morse Professor and Chair of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Virginia, and co-Founder of the UVA Center for Applied Biomechanics.

Prof. Kerrigan's research in injury biomechanics uses data analysis, computational modeling, and mechanical experiments with human tissue to prevent and mitigate injuries to motor vehicle occupants and athletes. Right now he is working on occupant protection for future vehicles, shoe-turf interaction mechanics, and characterizing injury tolerance.

Professor Lagor's current research interests focus on estimation and control for autonomous systems interacting with their fluid environments. He received his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland in 2017, prior to which he worked for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company where he was a Certified Principal Engineer.

Dr. Panzer is the Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Post-Doctoral Affairs for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, a Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia, and the Deputy Director at the Center for Applied Biomechanics.

Dr. Park is the associate director of the Foot and Ankle Fellowship at UVA and is the team foot and ankle surgeon for UVA Athletics. His research interests include injury biomechanics, sports-related injuries to the foot and ankle, tendon reconstruction, ankle replacement, bone grafting and biomechanical properties of orthopedic implants.

Associate Professor Quinn first came to the University of Virginia as an undergraduate student in 2006. After graduating, he left to get his PhD at Princeton University, then returned in 2017 to be on the UVA faculty.

Russell's research interests lie in the increased understanding of the mechanisms of human movement

Sun joined UVA as an associate professor in 2021. Prior to her position at UVA, Sun was an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological University.

Dr. Tang's research program centers on the structure-mechanics relationships of hierarchical biological materials and their clinical and biomedical applications. Many biological tissues, such as our own skeleton, perform a diverse range of functions with remarkable mechanical properties. These exceptional properties arise from the functional 

B.S. Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1992; Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 1996

Dr. Xu joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at The University of Virginia in the fall of 2014. He received his PhD in Mechanics and Materials from Columbia University in 2012 and was a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2012 to 2014.