Our work on the “Design Development of a Repeatable Helmet Test System for Public Order Threat Recreations” has now been published! This paper, presented at the 3rd International Conference on Design Tools and Methods in Industrial Engineering in Florence Italy, explains some of the challenges with laboratory recreations of real-world head impact scenarios, particularly for […]
To improve product performance the Sports Engineering Research Group (SERG) at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) work to better understand sports equipment and its interaction with users as well as the environment. We research whether something is possible and develop engineering solutions to fulfil product needs using fundamental physics, experimental methods and modelling techniques. We utilise user-centred design to push the […]
The UCI mountain bike world cup wrapped up in Mont Saint Anne this past weekend in a nail biting, bike smashing, classic Canadian finale.
SERG recently measured the stiffness of mountain bike hubs to assist a local manufacturer.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if you could play Badminton properly outdoors?” I was sat enjoying a drink with George when he posed this to challenge to me. George had recently returned from holiday where he had seen a young family attempting to play badminton in the park. They struggled, they couldn’t get the equipment to […]
My first lesson in ice hockey was at the age of five when my dad dragged me down to the ice rink for the first time. It was on the importance of wearing a helmet at all times. Over the last 22 years playing ice hockey at both a junior and semi-professional level, I have […]
Many sports participants, particularly engineers, are already well aware of the limitations of their protective equipment. Un-representative certifications and standards can lead to a dangerous mismatch between user expectations and equipment function. Deficiencies in protective equipment can contribute to life changing injuries of professional, celebrity and recreational sports people. The challenge is huge; protect users […]
The winter Olympics haven’t even started and we already have injuries in the British camp. Britain’s medal hope, freestyle snowboarder Katie Ormerod, has fractured her wrist during training in Pyeongchang. Despite this setback she is still planning on competing in the slopestyle qualification on Sunday — less than a year after she fractured her L3 vertebra at […]
Tour de France time-trial stages are often decisive in confirming a rider’s general classification ranking. Riders battle against the clock to win, or lose time against their competitors. The two time-trail stages of the 2017 Tour de France are notable for being relatively short in distance thereby limiting the possible time gains or losses. Stage […]
The new “Magistra Obra” boots from Nike have just hit the UK market for the modest price of £240. The focus of the football boots’ design is performance: enhanced grip and low weight. The stud shapes have deviated from the classical conical shape into triangles, blades or combinations of different forms. Whilst these shapes presumably aim […]
It was time to see if we could set a world record speed for a gravity racer. The weather was 21ºC in nearby Avignon and the wind on the 2 km road section was light. Feeling buoyant from the previous day’s 81.8 mph and having a number of further changes up our sleeves — we were optimistic. […]
Engineering Sport 