Occupational Ergonomics and Biomechanics (OEB) Laboratories
Our Motto
UT PROSIM THAT I MAY SERVE
Welcome to the Occupational Ergonomics and Biomechanics Laboratories
The Occupational Ergonomics and Biomechanics (OEB) Laboratories conduct work in theoretical and applied ergonomics, occupational biomechanics, and work physiology, primarily relating to worksite, workstation, and equipment evaluation and design. Specifically, research is focused on:
- Biomechanics of the human body (modeling, strength, motions, and working postures);
- Human engineering of systems, equipment, tools, workstations, and work tasks;
- Ergonomic design for safety, efficiency, and performance.
Major application domains for the work in the laboratories are manufacturing, construction, and healthcare. The Laboratories consist of several rooms, which are used as needed for research, development, and evaluation. Those Laboratories are well equipped to do research in a variety of areas.
New article Classification algorithms trained on simple (symmetric) lifting data perform poorly in predicting hand loads during complex (free-dynamic) lifting tasks by Sol Lim was published in Applied Ergonomics. (December 2024)
New article Exposures to select risk factors can be estimated from a continuous stream of inertial sensor measurements during a variety of lifting-lowering tasks by Sol Lim was published in Ergonomics. (December 2024)
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Wearable voice recorders capture real-time data from participants about what they were doing when they lost their balance. Photo by Jordi Shelton for Virginia Tech.
OEB Lab Co-Director Mike Madigan was featured in Virginia Tech News. The article highlighted Dr. Madigan and his former student's (Youngjae Lee) research project, which used wearable voice recorders to capture real-world data on balance loss incidents among older adults.
(October 2024)
New article Use of a Wearable Electromyography Armband to Detect Lift-Lower Tasks and Classify Hand Loads by Sol Lim was published in Applied Ergonomics. (September 2024)
New article Barriers and Benefits of Online Group Exercise Programs for Older Adults by Sol Lim was published in Journal of Applied Gerontology. (September 2024)
New article Changes in forklift driving performance and postures among novices resulting from training using a high-fidelity virtual reality simulator: An exploratory study by Sunwook Kim, Maury Nussbaum and Sol Lim was published in International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics. (September 2024)
New article Understanding contributing factors to exoskeleton use-intention in construction: A decision tree approach using results from an online survey by Sunwook Kim and Maury Nussbaum was published in Ergonomics. (September 2024)
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A Ph.D. candidate, Youngjae Lee, successfully defended his dissertation, "Non-Treadmill Trip Training - Laboratory Efficacy, Validation of Inertial Measurement Units, and Tripping Kinematics in the Real-World," on April 30, 2024. Congratulations, Dr. Lee! (May 2024)
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OEB Lab Co-Director Maury Nussbaum and his Ph.D students Ahmad Raza Usmani, Wally Morris, and Aanu Ojelade, were featured on their exoskeleton effectiveness research with construction workers in Virginia Tech Video (October 2023).