Thurmon E Lockhart

Associate Professor

Present Position

• Associate Professor of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Primary Faculty of the VT/Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Science
• Guest Professor, Ghent University, Department of Industrial Management, Belgium
• Director, Locomotion Research Laboratory
• NIH Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Sciences Study Section Member (2010-2016)
• Associate Editor, Annals of Biomedical Engineering
• Editor, Ergonomics

Honors

• Alexander C. Williams, Jr., Design Award (HFES) (2008)
• College of Engineering Faculty Fellow Award, Virginia Tech (2008)
• ADA Disability Research Award (Research performed 2004-2005) (2007)
• Liberty Mutual Best Paper Award (Published in Ergonomics, 2003-2004) (2005)
• Dean’s Award of Excellence for Outstanding Assistant Professor Virginia Tech (2003)
• Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholar (1999)

Research Interests and Expertise

• Fall Accidents
• Human locomotion
• Postural control and dynamic stability
• Wearable sensors, mobility assessments
• Occupational biomechanics
• Visual control

Recent Course Responsibilities

• Locomotion Biomechanics
• Research Design
• Industrial Ergonomics
• Work Measurement
• Human Factors

Journal Papers (Selected Manuscripts accessible from the PubMed)

• Lockhart, T.E., and Shi, W., (2010), Effects of Age on Dynamic Accommodation.  Ergonomics, 53:7, 892-903. PMCID: PMC2908311
• Kim, S., and Lockhart, T.E., (2010), Effects of 8 weeks of balance or weight training for the independently living elderly on the outcomes of induced slips.  International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 33(1):  49-55. PMCID: PMC2861367
• Lockhart T, Barth A, Zhang X, Songra R, Abdel-Rahman E, Lach J. (2010),  "Portable, non-invasive fall risk assessment in end stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis," ACM Trans Comput Hum Interact. 2010: p. 84-93.
• Liu, J., and Lockhart, T.E., (2009), Age-related joint moment characteristics during normal gait and successful reactive recovery from unexpected slip perturbations. Gait and Posture, 30, 276-281.  PMID:  19581088
• Lockhart, TE, Kim, S., Kapur, R., and Jarrott, S., (2009), Evaluation of gait characteristics and ground reaction forces of cognitively declined older adults with emphasis on slip-induced fall accidents.  Assistive Technology, 21(4):188-195. PMCID: PMC2894627
• Kim S., and Lockhart, TE, Roberto, K., (2009), The effects of 8-week balance training or weight training for the elderly on fear of falling measures and social activity levels.  Quality in Ageing, 10(4), 37-48.  PMID:  19773670
• Lee, M., Roan, M., Smith, B., and Lockhart, T.E., (2009), Gait analysis to classify external load conditions using linear discriminant analysis.  Human Movement Science, 28, 226-235.  PMCID: PMC2908309
• Parijat, P., and Lockhart, T.E., (2008), Effects of lower extremity muscle fatigue on the outcomes of slip-induced falls.  Ergonomics, 51:12, 1873-1884.  PMCID: PMC2892174
• Lockhart, T.E., and Liu, J., (2008), Differentiating fall-prone and healthy adults using local dynamic stability.  Ergonomics, 51:12, 1860-1872.  PMCID: PMC2892176
• Parijat, P., and Lockhart, T.E., (2008), Effects of quadriceps fatigue on the biomechanics of gait and slip propensity.  Gait and Posture, 28, 568-573.  PMCID: PMC2586294
• Liu, J., Lockhart, T.E., Jones, M., and Martin, T., (2008), Local Dynamic Stability Assessment of Motion impaired Elderly using Electronic Textile Pants.  IEEE Transactions in Automation Science and Engineering, 5:4, 696-702. NIHMSID#212316
• Granata K.P., and Lockhart T.E., (2008), Dynamic stability differences in fall-prone and healthy adults.  J. Electromyography & Kinesiology, 18, 172-178. PMCID: PMC2895268
• Lockhart, T.E., (2008), An integrated approach towards identifying age-related mechanisms of slip initiated falls.  J. Electromyography & Kinesiology, 18, 205-217.  PMCID: PMC2349089
• Quek, F., Roger, E., and Lockhart, TE., (2008), As Go the Feet:  On the Estimation of Attentional Focus from Stance.  ACM Trans Comput Hum Interact. 2008:  97-104. PMCID: PMC29356542008
• Kim, S., Lockhart, T.E., (2008), The Effects of 10% Front Load Carriage on the Likelihood of Slips and Falls.  Industrial Health, 46, 32-39.  PMCID: PMC2907551
• Shi, W., Lockhart, T.E., Arbab, M., (2008), Tinted windshield and its effects on aging drivers’ visual acuity and glare response.  Safety Science, 46, 1223-1233. PMCID: PMC2892395

Selected Ongoing Research Projects

• Effects of Localized Muscle Fatigue on Risk of Occupational Slips and Falls
  • CDC/NIOSH – R01-OH009222 ($1,196,460.00:  9/01/09 – 8/31/13)  PI: Lockhart (80%) Co-I: Nussbaum (20%).  
  • This project will combine experimental and biomechanical modeling of localized muscle fatigue to quantify the effects of localized muscle fatigue on slip propensity and balance recovery. 
• Non-Intrusive Multi-Patient Fall-Risk Monitoring in Health Care Facilities
  • NSF-Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) and Smart Health and Wellbeing -1065442 (VT), 1065262 (UVA) – PI:  Lockhart, T., Lach, J., CoPIs: Roberto, K., and Ha, D., ($1,200,000: 8/01/2011 to 7/31/2015).  
  • This project enables a new paradigm in elderly patient care to target fall prevention interventions to high fall risk individuals before fall incidents occur, preserving patient's health and quality of life while reducing health care costs.
• Continuous Non-Invasive Gait Analysis and Fall-Risk Assessment
  • NSF-CBET-0756058 (VT)/0756645 (UVA) – Collaborative Research - VT PI:  Thurmon Lockhart, UVA PI:  John Lach ($450,000: 4/01/08 to 3/31/2012).  
  • This is a collaborative research project to develop an ambulatory assessment device and algorithms to measure gait and posture utilizing accelerometers and gyroscopes. 
• Slip Simulators and Modeling of a Falling Man
  • Los Alamos National Security ($293,914 :  8/04/2010 to 9/30/2012).  PI :  Lockhart
  • This grant will support the development and deployment of a safety training program utilizing the slip simulator for enhanced kinetic learning for fall safety.

Industries Serviced

• Construction
• Delivery Service Providers
• Nursing Homes
• Military

Additional links

• www.locomotion.ise.vt.edu
• http://www.vt.edu/spotlight/impact/2010-01-04-falls/fall-prevention.html
• http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2011/08/081811-engineering-elderlyfalls.html