Eli Berger, a University of Southern Indiana engineering student who graduated this Spring, was selected as a Fellow of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). The program recognizes and supports graduate students pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by providing three years of support over a five-year fellowship period. Berger will be attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to complete his graduate research.
Berger’s original research proposal related to biomechanics and the overlap of engineering and biology. Patients with cerebral palsy and spina bifida often exhibit excessive knee flexion during the stance phase of the gait which can cause excessive energy expenditure and limit the patient’s activity. In an attempt to solve the issue, clinicians often prescribe rigid/static ankle foot orthotics (AFO) that hold the ankle in a fixed, neutral position, but the high stiffness of the rigid AFO prevents the foots ability to point down and therefore impairs push-off power during gait. Berger wanted to remedy this with a device that has a variable stiffness using a controlled second moment of area.
As part of his senior capstone project, he and his team were able to prove the concept was valid and could be further expanded. From there, Berger has pivoted his graduate research to focus on neuromechanics, studying the forces between neurons. This research could have implications for conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Berger also collaborated with Dr. Julian Davis, USI Associate Professor of Engineering, on research investigating sound detection in the Plainfin Midshipman fish. “As a collaborator, Eli is curious and driven,” Davis says. “Combining his experimental abilities with dynamic and finite element modeling knowledge and empathy for others, Eli brings a full package of skills to a laboratory and graduate school setting.”
“The skills I have learned from Dr. Davis and all of the other amazing faculty at USI are highly transferable,” Berger says. “He taught me that as an engineer, you can apply the skills of analysis and modeling to just about anything biological, and when you combine those skills with the skills of a biologist as a part of an interdisciplinary team, you can produce incredible results.”
When Berger first heard he received this prestigious award, he felt blessed and grateful. “I feel a tremendous amount of gratitude for everyone who helped me along the way. The engineering professors at USI not only taught me exceptionally well but also motivated me and pushed me in the right direction. They believed in me and my ability to achieve great things.”
