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SUMMARY:MechE Colloquium: Functional interpretation for transverse arches 
 of human foot
DTSTART:20180529T121500
DTEND:20180529T131500
DTSTAMP:20260406T194717Z
UID:b4d3a3e9932cbb93e136ea148e4b1c6b5a54400f1d4c25e7596bef5a
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Shreyas Mandre\, School of Engineering\, Brown Universit
 y\nAbstract:\nAbout 8 million years ago\, the common ancestor of the human
  and chimpanzee lineages had feet without arches and with a structure simi
 lar to our hands. In this talk\, we consider the function of the transvers
 e arch of the human foot as a structural element and juxtapose the results
  in the context of fossilized feet from human ancestors.\n\nThe fossil rec
 ord indicates that the emergence of arches in human ancestral feet coincid
 ed with a transition from an arboreal to a terrestrial lifestyle. Propulsi
 ve forces exerted during walking and running load the foot under bending\,
  which is distinct from those experienced during arboreal locomotion. I wi
 ll present mathematical models with varying levels of detail to illustrate
  a simple function of the transverse arch. Just as we curve a dollar bill 
 in the transverse direction to stiffen it while inserting it in a vending 
 machine\, the transverse arch of the human foot stiffens it for bending de
 formations. A fundamental interplay of geometry and mechanics underlies th
 is stiffening -- curvature couples the soft out-of-plane bending mode to t
 he stiff in-plane stretching deformation. In addition to presenting a func
 tional interpretation of the transverse arch of the foot\, this study also
  identifies a classification of flat feet based on the skeletal geometry a
 nd mechanics.\n\nBio:\nDr. Mandre is an Assistant Professor in the School 
 of Engineering at Brown University. He has a Bachelors degree in Mechanica
 l Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay\, a Masters i
 n Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University\, a PhD from the Uni
 versity of British Columbia in Mathematics. Like his degrees\, Dr. Mandre'
 s research straddles engineering and mathematics\, including on esoteric t
 opics such as the waving of grass\, the splashing of droplets\, and the st
 ructure of fish fins and human feet.
LOCATION:MED 0 1418 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==MED%200%201418
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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