Melbourne School of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering

David Ackland

PhD Candidate

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biography

David Ackland is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, where he majored in Mechanical Engineering and in Human Anatomy and Physiology.

His major undergraduate research projects included:

  1. The visco-elastic properties of the sclera of the human eye (Optometry Department funded final year research project - design of a novel creep testing device)
  2. Design of an all terrain mobile surveying unit (CSIRO funded summer research project - design and control of a wireless mobile testing platform)
  3. The ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus of the rat (Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital funded summer research project - establishing a surgical procedure for rat auditory neuron identification in vivo).

Currently a PhD student in Bioengineering, supervised by Professor Marcus Pandy, David is researching biomechanics of the shoulder complex with an emphasis on glenohumeral biomechanics and shoulder surgery/arthroplasty. By combining novel cadaveric experimental techniques with sophisticated computational modelling and simulation, David's PhD seeks to improve understanding of shoulder function in the normal upper-limb, and after implantation of common prostheses.

During his studies, he has designed biomedical equipment for the department of Optometry and MAME. David tutors, demonstrates and lectures on a casual basis at the University of Melbourne.

research interests

David’s current postgraduate research interests include muscle and neuromuscular function in the human body, surgery of the human shoulder, human implant design, biomechanics, design and control of electromechanical systems. He is currently developing a computer controlled, electromechanical testing apparatus for cadaveric experimentation of the human shoulder, knee and spinal column.

publications

Ackland, D.C., Goodwin, C.J., Pandy, M.G.
Chapter XIII, “Computational Modelling in Shoulder Biomechanics”. Computational Intelligence for Movement Sciences: Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines, and Other Emerging Technology, edited by Dr Begg and Dr Palaniswami (2006).