Aidan Farrell

The first Transformations presentation I went to was, Acute Changes to Foot Strike Pattern Effects on the Biomechanics and Ground Reaction Forces in Collegiate Recreational Runners, presented by Patrick Brown. This presentation discussed the changes in stride pattern in runners. The speaker, Patrick Brown, decided to research this after suffering a running injury and changing his foot strike. After changing his foot strike the injury didn’t reoccur. His study included habitual forefoot strikers and habitual heel strikers, no mid foot strikers were involved in the research. Using the HUDL technique application for the iPhone and a pressure plate runway, he calculated the ground reaction force, peak acceleration, and average acceleration in the runners. He then had them alter their foot strike pattern to see the differences in forces exerted.  The rear strikers had a lower peak acceleration while habitual forefoot strikers had a higher peak acceleration. There was not a significant difference between average accelerations.  In my opinion this presentation was very beneficial to sit in and watch because I plan to focus in biomechanics. This showed me some of the techniques and things studied by biomechanists, which was very interesting. I also liked it because I am a track runner. Even though I am a sprinter and usually run on my forefoot, I like to learn about the other types of foot strike patterns as well as running techniques.

The second one I attended was, SUNY Cortland Student Life Center’s Impact on Student Recruitment, Satisfaction, and Success, presented by Ian White, Braden Watson, and Danielle Del Amo. This presentation focused on the experiment but not the results. The experiment is still in progress, so they discussed the procedure and methods used in the study. They talked about the benefits of the Student Life Center, which were higher persistence and satisfaction, higher gpa and more credit hours taken, as well as a sense of community. They looked at what motivated students to participate in recreational activities, perceptions and use of the Student Life Center, alcohol consumption, and the demographics. The second method used focus groups such as first year students, non-users of the Student Life Center, Student leaders, and disabled students. With a number of surveys they gathered data which hasn’t been completed yet, but they will be presenting the results towards the end of the semester. I really enjoyed this presentation because I was a transfer student this semester. The Student Life Center was one of the things that sealed the deal for me coming here. Career wise, this would be beneficial to me but not as much as the first presentation in my opinion. This presentation interested me a lot.