7th World Congress of Biomechanics sets records, attracts international names

This summer, over 4,100 attendees arrived from across the globe for the 7th World Congress of Biomechanics (WCB) at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in Boston, MA.

The largest biomechanics conference ever held, attendance was up 208 percent from the previous WCB - and the first in the United States in over two decades.

Participants from 58 countries converged to discuss the latest advances in biomechanics measurement, modeling, and medical devices. There were over 5,100 abstracts received, 500 abstract reviewers, 16 WCB and society plenary lectures, and 440 podium sessions.

Five days of poster sessions featured over 2,200 posters and 14 student award competitions. The congress also included workshops, tutorials, roundtables, association meetings and over 60 booth and table-top exhibitors.

“Our onsite registration staff was working fast and furiously,” said Andrea Caldwell, owner of Practical Productions, LLC event planning and management. “We averaged processing 213 attendees per hour during peak hours of the conference.” “When the registration gates opened on Sunday, we registered 647 people in sixty minutes!”

Industry luminaries decked the stage for speeches and presentations including Subra Suresh, President of Carnegie Mellon and former director of the National Science Foundation and Robert Langer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a drug delivery and tissue engineering expert.

“The World Congress provides an important opportunity for both new and established researchers in the many disciplines that study or use biomechanics to share their work across those boundaries,” said Council President, Prof. Geert Schmid-Schoenbein of UC San Diego.

Over 3,000 attendees were seated for a plated dinner at the awards banquet with music by the Ayn Inserto Jazz Octet.

“Every event is a little different but biomechanics was a unique challenge for our team with nearly 1,200 pounds of fresh chicken in production and 15,000 pieces of china to set, clear and clean,” said Chef Tim Elderkin, exclusive caterer of Levy Restaurants, John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. “A banquet that took months to plan all came together perfectly in just a few hours. We are so proud to have been part of such an amazing event.”

Plenary speakers included Dennis Discher, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; Farshid Guilak, Ph.D, Laszlo Ormandy Professor, Vice-Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery, Director of Orthopaedic Research, Duke University; and Mimi Koehl, Ph.D., University of California – Berkeley.

The World Congress bought out the House of Blues on Lansdowne Street in Boston for their off-site social event, sponsored by Bose. With 1,500 people in attendance, they danced to the classic rock music of BEDrock, a band made up of biomechanical engineers from around the world.

“We were on the hunt for entertainment when a committee member sent us a YouTube link to BEDrock,” said Caldwell. “We learned they’d been jamming at local bars during industry events since 2003 and have a serious following.”

“BEDrock put on an amazing show for their peers and it was an ideal solution for a cost conscience event.”
The World Congress of Biomechanics is an international meeting held once every four years. Rotating among Europe, Asia and the Americas, the meeting was last held in Singapore in 2010.

“This 7th WCB demonstrates that the field of biomechanics is thriving and growing rapidly,” said conference co-chair Prof. Roger Kamm of MIT. “The range of talks, posters, and exhibits by scientists, engineers and clinicians illustrates that biomechanics spans from molecules to cells to artificial knees to the locomotion of birds and humans -- and a large variety of topics in between.”

The 8th WCB will be held in 2018 in Dublin, Ireland.

WCB is organized by the World Council on Biomechanics with help from the American Society of Biomechanics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Australian and New Zealand Society of Biomechanics, Canadian Society for Biomechanics, European Society of Biomechanics, German Society of Biomechanics, Global Enterprise for MicroMechanics and Molecular Medicine, International Society of Biomechanics, US National Committee on Biomechanics and World Council of Biomechanics. To learn more about the event, visit www.wcb2014.com.

Contact andrea@practicalpro.com for more information about the World Council of Biomechanics and 7th WCB.