Dr. Ortega received the award from the American Society of Biomechanics Journal of Biomechanics, which spotlights novel mechanics approaches to explain the function of biological systems. He was honored at the society’s annual meeting in Stanford and invited to publish his prize-winning work in the Journal of Biomechanics.
Of his research, Dr. Ortega said he sought to understand the factors that contribute to the instability of elderly walkers. “What I found was that elderly and young adults consume a similar amount of energy to stabilize the body while walking. But perhaps the most interesting finding was that arm swing helps to improve stability and reduce the energetic cost of walking, in both the young and the elderly.”
Susan MacConnie, department chair, said the prestigious award honored the groundbreaking nature and importance of Dr. Ortega’s research. “The fact that he received this award having just completed his doctoral work is very impressive and recognizes his potential as a scholar,” she said. “Humboldt State University in general, and the Kinesiology and Recreation Administration Department in particular, is fortunate to have someone of his caliber on our faculty.”
Dr. Ortega is a member of the HSU Biomechanics Lab and his research centers on understanding the basic principles that underlie the physiology of locomotion. He also examines the application of those principles to improve human health.
The HSU alum recently received a two-year supplemental National Institutes of Health grant of about $80,000 to investigate the effects of aging on the relationship between muscle cellular efficiency and locomotion energetics. He will conduct the research in Seattle at the University of Washington during the summer months and analyze the data at Humboldt State with the assistance of graduate and undergraduate students.
Dr. Ortega took his HSU bachelor’s of science degree in kinesiology, magna cum laude, in 1997, then headed to the University of Colorado for his master’s in kinesiology/applied physiology and a doctor of philosophy in integrative physiology, completed in 2006.
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