Richard Sesek, faculty member in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and graduate students Celal Gungor and Ruoliang “Rio” Tang are studying the relationship between lower back geometry to a subject’s gross anthropometry, or characteristics such as height, weight, gender or age. Using 3T MRI scans taken at Auburn’s MRI Research Center, Gungor and Tang are gaining a better understanding of these relationships, which can be used to help improve ergonomic modeling that often relies on average values for the size and position of low back structures. Their early testing with a database of jobs that have known health outcomes indicated promising improvements in risk estimation. They also investigated the intervertebral disc cross-sectional area as further means to improve ergonomic modeling. Their work has been funded by two grants from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and was named the best research presentation among fellow Dillon-Carnahan programs at the Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety’s research symposium.