Kotaro Sasaki, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering
kosasaki@boisestate.edu
Phone: 208-426-4027 | Fax: 208 426-4800 | Office: ENGR 206
Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering
kosasaki@boisestate.edu
Phone: 208-426-4027 | Fax: 208 426-4800 | Office: ENGR 206

Bio
Dr. Sasaki earned his B.S. in Biophysical Engineering from Osaka University, Japan, and M.A. in kinesiology and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. After finishing his Ph.D. work in 2004, he worked as a post-doctoral fellow and as a research associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. In 2008, he joined the faculty of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at Boise State University. His research interest is computational biomechanical analyses of human motor activities.
Publications
Journal Articles
- Sasaki, K. and Neptune, R.R. (2010). Individual muscle contributions to the axial knee joint contact force during normal walking. Journal of Biomechanics 43(14): p2780-2784.
- Sasaki, K. (2010). Muscle contributions to the tibiofemoral joint contact force during running. Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation 46: p305-310.
- Sasaki, K., Neptune, R.R. and Kautz, S.A (2009). The relationships between muscle, external, internal and joint mechanical work during normal walking. Journal of Experimental Biology 212(5): p738-744.
- Neptune, R.R., Sasaki, K. and Kautz, S.A (2008). The effect of walking speed on muscle function and mechanical energetics. Gait and Posture 28(1): p135-143.
- Sasaki, K., Neptune, R.R., Burnfield, J.M. and Mulroy, S.J. (2008). Muscle compensatory mechanisms during able-bodied toe walking. Gait and Posture 27(3): p 440-446.
- Zmitrewicz, R.J, Neptune, R.R. and Sasaki, K. (2007). Mechanical energetic contributions from individual muscles and elastic prosthetic feet during symmetric unilateral transtibial amputee walking: A theoretical study. Journal of Biomechanics 40(8): p1824-1831.
- Sasaki, K. and Neptune, R.R. (2006). Muscle mechanical work and elastic energy utilization during walking and running near the preferred gait transition speed. Gait and Posture 23(3): p383-390.
- Sasaki, K. and Neptune, R.R. (2006). Differences in muscle function during walking and running at the same speed. Journal of Biomechanics 39(11): p2005-2013.
- Neptune. R.R. and Sasaki, K. (2005). Ankle plantar flexor force production is an important determinant of the preferred walk-to-run transition speed. Journal of Experimental Biology 208(5): p799-808.
- Pandy, M.G.,Sasaki, K., and Kim, S. (1998). A three-dimensional musculoskeletal model of the human knee joint. Part 1: Theoretical construction. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering 1(2): p87-108.
- Pandy, M.G. and Sasaki, K. (1998). A three-dimensional musculoskeletal model of the human knee joint. Part 2: Analysis of ligament function. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering 1(4): p265-283.
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Conference Proceedings
- Griswold, J. and Sasaki, K. (2012). Handgrip force and upper-limb kinetics during handcycling. Proceedings of the 36th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, August 15-18, Gainesville, FL.
- Rooks, T., Leib, D. Dugan, E., and Sasaki, K. (2012). Variability of strain and strain rate in human tibial disphysis during walking. Proceedings of 36th Annual Meeting for American Society of Biomechanics, August 15-18, Gainesville, FL.
- Sasaki, K. (2011). Glenohumeral joint force estimations during shoulder abduction and flexion with a weight using forward dynamics simulation. Proceedings of the 35th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, August 10-13, Long beach, CA.
- Chyung, S.Y., Hughes, W.L., Sasaki, K., Cole, T., Chiasson, J.N. and Schrader, C.B. (2011). How can we help faculty balance between teaching and scholarly activities? Proceedings of the 118th Annual Conference & Exposition of the American Society for Engineering Education, June 26-29, Vancouver, B.C. (Canada).
- Sasaki, K. (2010). Muscle contributions to the tibiofemoral joint contact force during running. Proceedings of 47th International ISA Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation Symposium, April 9-11, Laramie, WY.
- Sasaki, K. and Neptune, R.R. (2009). Contributions of leg muscles to the axial knee joint contact force during normal walking. Proceedings of 33rd Annual Meeting for American Society of Biomechanics, August 26-29, State College, PA.
- Sasaki, K., Neptune, R.R. and Kautz, S.A. (2008). Differences between joint work and muscle fiber work during steady-state walking. Proceedings of 2008 North American Congress of Biomechanics, August 5-9, Ann Arbor, MI.
- Sasaki, K., Neptune, R.R., Burnfield, J.M. and Mulroy, S.J. (2007). Muscle segment power distributions in able-bodied toe walking. Proceedings of 31st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, August 22-25, Stanford, CA.
- Sasaki, K., Neptune, R.R., Burnfield, J.M. and Mulroy, S.J. (2007). Elastic energy storage and return in toe versus heel-toe walking. Proceedings of 18th International Conference of the International Society for Posture and Gait Research, July 14-18, Burlington, VT.
- Neptune, R.R., Sasaki, K. and Kautz, S.A. (2007). Muscle mechanical work adaptations with increasing walking speed. Proceedings of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering 2007 Bioengineering Conference, June 20-24, Keystone, CO.
- Sasaki, K. and Neptune, R.R. (2007). Elastic energy storage and return in toe versus heel-toe walking. Proceedings of 24th Annual Meeting of Houston Society for Engineering in Medicine and Biology, February 11-12, Houston, TX.
- Sasaki, K. and Neptune, R.R. (2005). Muscle contributions to the flight phase in running. Proceedings of XXth Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics and 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, July 31-August 5, Cleveland, OH.
- Sasaki, K. and Neptune, R.R. (2005). Differences in muscle function between walking and running at the preferred walk-run transition speed. Proceedings of XXth Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics and 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, July 31-August 5, Cleveland, OH.
- Sasaki, K. and Neptune, R.R. (2005). Muscle mechanical work and elastic energy utilization during walking and running near the preferred gait transition speed. Proceedings of 2005 Summer Bioengineering Conference of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering Bioengineering Division, June 22-26, Vail, CO.
- Sasaki, K. and Neptune, R.R. (2005). The application of sliding mode control to generate dynamical simulations of human gait. Proceedings of 22nd Annual Meeting of Houston Society for Engineering in Medicine and Biology, February 10-11, Houston, TX.
- Zmitrewicz, R.J., Neptune, R.R. and Sasaki, K. (2005). Mechanical power analysis of unilateral transtibial gait: contributions from individual muscles and energy storage and return prostheses. Proceedings of the 2005 International Symposium on Computer Simulation in Biomechanics, July 28-30, Cleveland, OH.
- Sasaki, K. and Neptune, R.R. (2003). Differences in muscle power between walking and running at the same speed. Proceedings of 20th Annual Meeting of Houston Society for Engineering in Medicine and Biology, April 3-4, Houston, TX.
- Terry, K., Neptune, R.R. and Sasaki, K. (2003). The effect of walking speed on muscle EMG patterns during normal walking. Proceedings of 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, September 25-27, Toledo, OH.
