TI-5111 Occupational Biomechanics Syllabus - 1

Occupational Biomechanics

Instructor: Yassierli, PhD

Office: Labtek III Lt. 3 room # 319
E-Mail: yassierli@mail.ti.itb.ac.id
Office Hours: by appointment

Course Description: Application of biomechanics in occupational settings with an emphasis on people at work.
Discussion of ergonomic methods for measurement, assessment, and evaluation with major
topics including manual materials handling, cumulative trauma disorders, and work capacities.
Subject also includes bioinstrumentations and engineering anthropometry.

There is no required textbook.

Main References
Chaffin,D.B., Adersson, G.B, Martin, Occupational Biomechanics, Wiley-interscience., 4th ed. 2006

Honor Code: The Honor Code will be strictly enforced in this course. All assignments shall be considered
graded work, unless otherwise noted.

Accommodations: Please schedule an appointment with the instructor to discuss academic, religious, cultural,
or documented disability accommodation needs.

Course Requirements:
Examinations: Two exams will be given. The format will be closed notes unless otherwise stated. A review
for the exam will be provided. Test items will be taken from lectures, assignments, and any other
materials presented in class. No make-up examinations will be given. Students who miss an exam
must see the instructor in person within 24 hours of the scheduled exam (email is unacceptable). If you
are already aware of a conflict or potential conflict, see the instructor immediately.

Pop Quizzes: Approximately 2 short quizzes will be given throughout the semester. Quizzes will be given
unannounced. Material will be taken from the most recent previous lecture. No make-up quizzes will
be provided, for any reason.

In-class Activities: Group assignments will be given at the end of a topic as in-class activities. This is
intended to provide students with the opportunity to solve given problems via group discussions. A
workbook will be provided for group documentation, and will be graded. At the end of the semester, a
group peer evaluation will be conducted. The assignment may include a Lab-activity (TBA).

Homework Assignments & Class project: This is intended to assess student understanding of the concepts
learned in class and provide students with the opportunity to utilize the tools and concepts in a broader
context (implications to design and work tasks). If the assignment is given for a group work, each
student is expected to practice individually since similar materials may be found in the exam.
TI-5111 Occupational Biomechanics Syllabus - 2

Grading: An overall course grade will be assigned based on performance using

the following percentages:
Course Requirement Percentage of grade
Examinations (2) 70%
Quizzes 5%
Homework & Class project 15%
In-class activities (workbook) 10% (total)
Class participation (Bonus)

Letter grades will be assigned using the following scale:

Letter Grade Percentage
A 90 % or above
B 80-89%
C < 80%

Additional Information
1. Regular class attendance and participation will help to ensure quality performance in this class.
2. This is a design class, not a computational course. Therefore, it will require each student to use, develop, and
perfect their problem solving and critical thinking skills.
3. This class is designed to allow students to apply the concepts. Therefore, students need to realize that there is
no one correct solution for a number of the design issues we will encounter, but there are better designs or
answers than others.
4. All written assignments will be graded on the quality of the work. It is expected that each student will
provide well-written and defended solutions to the problems for this class. Only legible handwriting will be
graded.
5. If you have a dispute about a grade for any assignment or examination, provide the instructor with a written
explanation no later than 1 week after the work was returned to you. I do make mistakes, so please dont
hesitate to bring them to my attention.
6. I will strive to make this an exciting class. I welcome your suggestions for improving the course at any time.

Tentative Schedule (Subject to Change)

Topic # Topic Assignments

1 Course Introduction
2 Musculoskeletal System
3 Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders
4 Bioinstrumentation Lab. activities
5 Physical Work capacity
6 Biomechanical Models Individual Homework
7 Manual Material Handling
8 Review
Exam (UTS)
9 Engineering Anthropometry
10 Workstation Design and Local Muscle Fatigue
11 Work evaluation
12 Paper review on research method Individual Homework
13 Guest lecture: Application in industry
14 Presentation Group Homework