Associate Professor John Costi
Associate Professor
College of Science and Engineering
John completed his Mechanical Engineering degree in 1991 and his first employment was in Orthopaedic Biomechanical Engineering, where he found his passion and is still working in today. He was awarded his PhD in biomechanics of the intervertebral disc in 2004 at Flinders University. In mid-2005, he undertook an 18 month postdoctoral fellowship at the Departments of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, USA, one of the most prestigious spine research groups in the world. In 2009, John joined Flinders University as an Academic staff member/Biomechanical Engineer. He spent three years building his biomechanics research laboratory and program of research, and led a collaborative team to design and develop an award-winning novel, six degree of freedom hexapod robot. In 2015, he was elected to the grade of Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia in both the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Colleges.
He has expertise in bone, joint and soft tissue mechanics and the development of novel, experimental techniques to facilitate his research. He has conducted research on the hip, knee, shoulder, spine, elbow, hand and wrist as well as in fracture repair and reconstruction of soft tissue structures. He is actively involved with research collaborations both nationally and internationally. He has authored two book chapters, 56 articles, and presented over 160 papers both nationally/internationally on a wide range of biomechanical topics.
John is Director of The Flinders Surgical Lab, which has been established to enable medical device companies to provide advanced training for surgeons. He is Research Section Lead for Engineered Systems, and leads the experimental team of the Biomechanics and Implants Research group, Medical Device Research Institute, at Flinders University. He also sits on the Board of Directors for the Spine Society of Australia.
1992 BEng (Hons), The University of Adelaide
2019 FIOR - Recognised with the honorary status of Fellow of International Orthopaedic Research (FIOR) at the International Combined Orthopaedic Research Society (ICORS) meeting in Montreal, Canada
2019 Spinal Research Award. 30th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Spine Society of Australia, Gold Coast, Australia
2018 Best Poster Award. 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Spine Society of Australia, Adelaide, Australia
2017 Spinal Research Award. 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Spine Society of Australia, Hobart, Australia
2016 Finalist - National Instruments Engineering Impact Award, Houston, Texas, USA.
2015 FIEAust - Elected to the grade of Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust) (Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering).
2014 Mace Bearer, Faculty of Science and Engineering Graduation Ceremony, Flinders University of South Australia.
2013 Best Paper Award. 24th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Spine Society of Australia, Perth, Australia.
2012 Finalist - National Engineering Excellence Award, Engineers Australia, Canberra.
2012 Malcolm Kinnaird Engineering Excellence Award, Engineers Australia, South Australia Division.
2012 Innovation, Research and Development Engineering Excellence Award, Engineers Australia, South Australia Division.
2007 Finalist - International Society of Biomechanics (ISB) - Clinical Biomechanics Award, Tapei, Taiwan.
2007 Orthotech Best Poster Award. 18th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Spine Society of Australia, Hobart, Australia.
2007 New Investigator Award - Australian and New Zealand Society of Biomechanics, Auckland, New Zealand.
2006 McClure Musculoskeletal Research Award, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, The University of Vermont, USA.
2002 Best Postgraduate Presentation. Joint South Australian meeting of the Institution of Engineers (IEAust) Biomedical branch, the SMBE (Society for Medical and Biological Engineering) and ACPSEM (Australasian College of Physical Sciences and Engineers in Medicine).
2002 Best Poster Award. European Society of Sports Traumatology Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy, Rome, Italy.
1999 Young Investigator Award. Australian and New Zealand Orthopaedic Research Society, Brisbane, Australia.
Research Section Lead - Engineered Systems, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University
Academic Senate Member, Flinders University
Scientific Secretary, Spine Society of Australia
Associate Editor, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering
Winner - National final of the IET Present Around the World (PATW) competition - APR 2018
Best Scientific Presentation Award.13th Adelaide Centre for Spinal Research (ACSR) Spinal Research Symposium - AUG 2015
Best Poster Award at the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Spine Society of Australia - APR 2018
Clayton Adam Award for Best ECR Scientific Presentation at the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Spine Society of Australia - APR 2018
Best Higher Degree by Research Publication - College of Science and Engineering - DEC 2017
Winner - SA and NT final of the IET Present Around the World (PATW) competition - OCT 2017
Spinal Research Award, 30th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Spine Society of Australia - APR 2019
Journal Editorial Board
- Associate Editor, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering
- International Journal Advisory Review Board, Journal of Orthopaedic Research - Spine (JOR Spine)
Journal Reviewer
- Journal of Biomechanics
- Journal of Orthopaedic Research
- Spine
- BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
- European Spine Journal
- Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology
Committee Member
- Board of Directors, Spine Society of Australia
- College of Biomedical Engineering (SA Branch), Engineers Australia
- Past Secretary, Australian & New Zealand Orthopaedic Research Society (ANZORS)
- Engineering - Biomedical
- Biomechanics
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South Australia 5042
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