July 23, 2025
Industrial Engineering senior garners top paper award for research on physical demand in AR users.
At Mizzou Engineering, undergraduate students can take advantage of unparalleled research opportunities to challenge themselves and pioneer breakthroughs.
A team led by Industrial Engineering senior Will Mastrantuono has won the Best Paper Award at the 16th International Conference on Digital Human Modeling and Applications in Health, Safety, Ergonomics and Risk Management (DHM 2025).
In the study, “Exploring Physical Demand Metric: Slouching Score in Augmented Reality [AR] Based Biomechanics Education,” Mastrantuono and his research partners used motion capture technology to measure AR users’ posture and predict their physical exhaustion.
Mastrantuono shares the honor with his co-authors: Associate Professor Jung Hyup Kim, master’s student Siddarth Mohanty, graduate research assistant Sara Mostowfi, PhD student Yuanyuan Gu, Associate Teaching Professor Fang Wang, Assistant Professor Danielle Oprean, Assistant Professor Yi Wang and Associate Teaching Professor Kangwon Seo.
“My project wouldn’t have been accepted to the conference without the experience, guidance and support of my team,” Mastrantuono said. “Special thanks to Siddarth Mohanty and Ellie Swaters for making countless late nights in the lab bearable, and to Dr. Kim for giving me a chance.”
Kim said Mastrantuono’s achievement was a testament to what Mizzou Engineering students can achieve when they engage in research opportunities.
“What makes this achievement particularly remarkable is that it originated from an undergraduate research poster competition,” Kim said. “This success demonstrates not only the strength of our undergraduate research program, but it also reinforces the vital role that our Industrial and Systems Engineering Hall of Fame members play in supporting students and making these opportunities possible.”
Members of the Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) also engaged with students during the competition, offering thoughtful questions, constructive feedback and professional insights.
“IAB members’ involvement not only elevated the quality of the presentations but also provided students with meaningful mentorship and encouragement as they shared their research,” Kim said.
ISE Chair Jim Noble said Mastrantuono was an outstanding undergraduate researcher and that his achievement was an honor for the entire department.
“What Will has accomplished is amazing,” Noble said. “I fully expect he will make a significant impact in the future, whether that’s in research or somewhere else.”
DHM 2025 is an affiliate conference of the prestigious Human-Computer Interaction International Conference 2025, which was held June 22-27 in Gothenburg, Sweden.