The Integrative Movement Sciences Institute (IMSI) will hold its annual Capstone Symposium on September 10–12, 2026, bringing together undergraduate trainees, near-peer mentors, and faculty from across the IMSI network to share research spanning muscle mechanics, locomotion, balance, and sensorimotor control. Over three days, student researchers will present lightning talks on their summer projects alongside keynote lectures from faculty affiliates. The symposium is open to both in-person and virtual participants -- see our YouTube channel for livestream details and the full schedule below.

2026 Capstone Symposium Program

September 10–12, 2026  |  UC Irvine & Virtual

Day 1  ·  Thursday, September 10

8:15–8:45Arrival — Coffee & light breakfast provided to program participants
8:45–9:00Welcome — Monica Daley
9:00–9:20Keynote
Simon Sponberg (Georgia Tech)
9:20–10:00Lightning Talks
Molecular & tissue level muscle mechanics — Part 1
  • 9:20–9:30  Muscle-tendon synergy: impact of increased tendon mechanical properties on limb kinematics — Arjun Zaveri & Hanna Chow
  • 9:30–9:40  Cyclical Contractions: Architectural Gearing and Tendon Elasticity in Guinea Fowl Muscle — Megan Buries
  • 9:40–9:50  Tension and Motion: The Muscle-Tendon Dance In Vivo — Skylar Taylor
  • 9:50–10:00  Bullfrog muscle power: active stiffness and titin isoforms — Rachael Leflore
10:00–10:30Break
10:30–11:10Lightning Talks
Molecular & tissue level muscle mechanics — Part 2
  • 10:30–10:40  Clamp & Ramp: System identification to estimate mechanical muscle properties — Brandon Guereque Torres
  • 10:40–10:50  Fibers to function: mechanical system analysis of permeabilized skeletal and cardiac muscle — Maddy Chastain
  • 10:50–11:00  Striations and specialization: molecular-scale structural dynamics in diverse striated muscles — Amulya Kadaba
  • 11:00–11:10  Integrative muscle modeling: bridging muscle models across scales — Martie Fairchild
11:10–12:00Panel Discussion
Muscle mechanisms and modeling
Sponberg, Nishikawa, Tanner, Holt  |  Moderated by Jiangkun Wei & Adwait Mane
12:00–1:00Lunch
1:00–2:30Strategy Session
Core & working group updates
2:30–4:00UCI lab tours (in-person only)

Day 2  ·  Friday, September 11

8:30–9:00Arrival — Coffee & light breakfast provided to program participants
9:00–9:15Excellence in Mentoring — Nancy Aguilar-Roca
9:15–9:35Keynote
Craig McGowan (USC) — "Maintaining Balance in Complex Terrain"
9:35–10:15Lightning Talks
Terrain navigation & gait strategies
  • 9:35–9:45  Morphology matters: how does avian foot morphology influence balance stability — Kyler Jeong
  • 9:45–9:55  Elasticity and stability: distal limb tendon-based elasticity in avian bipedal locomotion — Wonbin Bae
  • 9:55–10:05  Branching out: visual cues and locomotion in tree shrews — Jocelyn Pena & Ariel Vieira
  • 10:05–10:15  Why go bipedal?: lizard gait strategies across varying terrain — Emma Lopez & Enoch Adeleye
10:15–10:40Break
10:40–11:30Lightning Talks
Balance, stability & perturbation responses
  • 10:40–10:50  Don't trip: functional use of the proximo-distal gradient during perturbations — Ava Minamihara & Ema Dang
  • 10:50–11:00  Front heavy: neuromechanics of adaptation to added mass in standing balance — Isabel Munoz-Orozco · Isabelle Leavy & Margaret Schrayer
  • 11:00–11:10  Momentum in motion: manipulating angular momentum to stabilize non-steady locomotion — Edgar Rodriguez & Tram Pham
  • 11:10–11:20  Staying on your feet: how capacity shapes balance resilience — Aaron Matthews & Avanthi Obadage
  • 11:20–11:30  Pop-up movement science arenas — Georgia Bilodeau
11:30–12:30Panel Discussion
Individual variation & cross-lab protocol comparability
Daley, Ting, Silverman, Finley  |  Moderated by Emily Smith & Sriram Muralidhar
12:30–1:30Lunch
1:30–3:00Strategy Session
Outreach & education: science communication, community engagement, educational development
McNitt-Gray, Hubicki, Miedema, Wood
5:00–8:00 pmBeach bonfire social (in-person only)

Day 3  ·  Saturday, September 12

8:30–9:00Arrival — Coffee & light breakfast provided to program participants
9:00–10:20Strategy Session
Data management & sharing: AI tools for data management and scientific analysis
Monica Daley & Jill McNitt-Gray
10:20–10:40Break
10:40–11:00Keynote
Katie Knaus (Colorado School of Mines) — "Muscle Strains, Gains, and Drains"
11:00–12:00Lightning Talks
Sensorimotor control & energetics of locomotion
  • 11:00–11:15  Spinal Cord Contributions to Motor Adaptation During Exoskeleton-Assisted Locomotion — Anna Coppola, Valay Shah, Sofia Morote, Isabella Lepe (two linked projects)
  • 11:15–11:25  Feedforward and feedback: an integrated model of sensorimotor control of guinea fowl locomotion — Fahimeh Sharifian Attar
  • 11:25–11:35  Functioning with fatigue: effects of muscular fatigue on movement performance — Lindsay Dietz, Caroline Turner, Will Feldman, Brittany Mills, Sarah Fogarty
  • 11:35–11:45  Muscle synergies and morphology across amphibious locomotion — Ebubechi Lever
  • 11:45–12:00  Why don't humans hop? — Experimental and Computational projects — Andrew Thornton & Roger Chen
12:00–12:05Closing remarks — Monica Daley
12:05–1:00Lunch
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