Our Blog has been going for nearly three years and recently hit the 100,000 visitors mark! This may be small fry compared to internet big hitters, but as the blog of a group of busy engineers, we’re all ecstatic. In addition to this, we’ve recently received funding which will allow us to create more content for you and hopefully interact more (see our Ask a Sports Engineer page). Our new theme gives a better overview of recent posts and generally looks a little more modern.

The blog has recently undergone a big facelift

Of course we wouldn’t of got to this stage without some of the great articles which my colleagues have written over this time. Some have been fantastically successful, such as the ‘How far could Usain Bolt jump?‘ piece by Leon Foster. It is still being picked up by sites all over the world which occasionally gives our site a healthy boost of traffic. It’s a great example of bringing science and mathematics to people who may not usually be interested. I personally am still waiting for Mr Bolt to take up the event.

There’s also been some great posts which have slipped under the radar, two posts on the controversial runner Oscar Pistorius by Dr David James have increasing significance as his possible inclusion in both the Olympics and Paralympics comes closer.

A recent addition of guest submission has helped create new content for the blog and bring some differing perspectives from sports engineers outside of our research centre, you can browse these articles here.

I couldn’t finish this post without also plugging some of own articles, I’ve commented a couple of times on the goal-line technology controversy and how it’s unfolded in recent years. We’ve also had some great articles from Prof. Haake and Dr Heather Driscoll in the same area. I think it’s an debate that still has some life left in it, it will be interesting to see some future developments.

Here’s to the next 100,000 visitors!

Simon Choppin