Research collaborator and Professor of Computational Biophysics and Biorobotics at the University of Stuttgart, Syn Schmitt has been appointed as Adjunct Professor within the Science and Engineering Faculty at QUT. The longstanding collaboration between BSRG and the Computational Biophysics and Biorobotics group aims at development of novel computational simulation tools for spinal movement. Syn is also a member of the supervisory team of Miss Laura Meszaros, a QUT PhD student working on modelling of the spine. We anticipate that our approach will permit an improved understanding of the joint loads experienced by spinal tissues during everyday activities.