Kelly Zuehlsdorff B.S., MS Candidate

Education

Colorado State University, BS Mechanical Engineering, 2006
University of Washington, MS Mechanical Engineering, 2008 (pending)

Research Interests

Kelly's research is centered on how age and diabetes affects the mechanical properties of foot and ankle ligaments. This is done through mechanical testing of cadaveric ligaments. Ligaments are also categorized into groups based on morphometric data to establish data for finite element foot models. The aim is to eliminate the need to test mechanically the 100+ ligaments in each foot. One of the most difficult parts of mechanical testing soft tissues is determining the cross-sectional area. This is especially hard for foot ligaments, which can be less than 5mm long and often have concavities. Kelly is working around this issue by using a molding and casting technique.

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