MSc Sports Engineering 2016-17

In September 2016 I enrolled at Sheffield Hallam University to begin my studies on the MSc Sports Engineering course. This was the eighth year that the course had run, with me and 18 fellow students from around the world descending on Sheffield to embark on our journey into the world of Sports Engineering. The 2016/17 cohort was truly an international one, with 10 different nationalities represented including, Canada, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, India, Malaysia, Iran, the USA, and the UK. The international nature of the course was an additional unforeseen benefit, not only because of the different backgrounds and experiences that this group of people brought together but has also given me an amazing global network of colleagues and friends.

MSc Sports Engineering 2016/17 cohort.

The MSc Sports Engineering was an amazing experience. Firstly, it helped me to build on the knowledge I had gained from my first degree in Sports Technology and develop new technical and analytical skills which are sought after within the sports industry through a combination of taught modules in research methods, engineering, biomechanics, and physiology, as well as an individual industry-linked research project. All staff that teach on the MSc Sports Engineering course are active researchers within the Sports Engineering Research Group (SERG). They work on over 100 different research projects each year with elite sport, industry and governing bodies and they actively involve MSc students in their research. For my individual project, I conducted a finite element investigation of badminton shuttlecock impact mechanics, to improve understanding of shuttle impact deformation characteristics to inform future synthetic shuttle design.

Finite element modelling of badminton shuttle.

The MSc Sports Engineering course also provided me with many amazing extra-curricular activities to get involved in, including being a Course Rep for the cohort and attending a two-week special topics course in the Netherlands at Delft University of Technology.    

PhD Sports Engineering 2017-21

After completing the MSc Sports Engineering with Distinction, I then stayed at Sheffield Hallam University to undertake a PhD within the Sports Engineering Research Group, titled ‘Assessing human morphology using statistical shape analysis’ – LINK. This PhD project built on the skills that I developed during the MSc program, in particular the use of different methods of human body measurement, including manual and digital techniques, as well as and numerical programming.

Sports Engineering PhD cohort.

During my PhD, I gained my first experiences of teaching and lecturing within the Academy of Sport and Physical Activity. I contributed to teaching on both undergraduate and postgraduate modules in biomechanics, advanced measurement techniques and human factors across the Sport and Exercise Science, Sport and Exercise Technology, and even the Sports Engineering MSc program! I must admit that it was a strange feeling teaching the content that I had been taught only a year or two previously. Also, in February 2020 I also helped to organise the 4th Annual Sports Engineering Seminar Day, hosted at the newly opened Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre. This was a one-day event, bringing together students, academics and industry partners to develop their professional networks and learn about recent developments within the field of sports engineering. This was a huge success, due in no small part to the contributions of several MSc Sports Engineering Alumni who presented at the event.

4th Annual Sports Engineering Seminar Day

Course Leader – MSc Sports Engineering

Since completing my PhD I am now working as a Research Fellow in advanced human body measurement and 3D surface-imaging within the Sports Engineering Research Group (SERG) at Sheffield Hallam University. In September 2024, SERG will be welcoming a new cohort of students for the 15^th year of the MSc Sports Engineering course. Excitingly, this year will see the launch of a fully redeveloped version of the course. The new course delivery model will embed real world industry challenges at the heart of every assessment, further enhancing the learning and employability of our student cohorts. This will be a unique MSc programme that the entire teaching team and I are very excited about delivering.

From September 2024 I will be lucky enough to be the new Course Leader for the MSc Sports Engineering program! I feel extremely privileged to have been given the opportunity to take over running of the course from my colleague Dr John Hart, who has done an incredible job leading the course since 2017. Just as in 2016, when I first entered the world of Sports Engineering by studying on the MSc program, I am filled with both nerves and excitement to lead the course into the new semester and support the next wave of sports engineers in their academic and career development.

In the words of Lao Tzu: “When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready, the teacher will disappear.”

To learn more about our research at the of the Sports Engineering Research Group (SERG) at SHU, please head to our website, and check out our MSc Sports Engineering course, or give us a follow on our social media channels, available at the top right of this page or through our linktr.