Supporting a uK SucceSS Story: The impacT of - Research Councils ...

Technology:
Engineering success
Today athletes employ numerous technologies
to help them train and achieve the best results.
As the quest to go faster, further and longer
continues researchers are developing new and
more complex technologies as well as applying
traditional engineering techniques to sport. Some
use of technologies can be controversial, but more
often than not they are helping athletes break new
records of physical endurance, skill and speed. For
example, advances in prosthetic technology have
caused some controversy with questions being
asked about whether or not it can give an unfair
advantage. Researchers at Bournemouth University
are investigating the use and perceptions of
prosthetics used in competitive sprinting at events
such as the Paralympics. The project aims to
develop a better understanding of how this type
of technology performs and how its impact can be
measured. If achieved successfully, this research
could help develop a better idea of what is a ‘fair’
use of prosthetic technology within disability
sprinting.
Engineering equipment
The University of Southampton’s Performance Sports Engineering
Laboratory (PSEL) is a team of academics and research engineers
engaged in developing sports equipment and technology and
helping top sportsmen and women achieve sporting excellence.
PSEL engineers have had a close working relationship with UK
Sport since early 2005 and collectively worked to support the
performance of the athletes who won 16 of the 20 gold medals
won by Great Britain in the Beijing and Vancouver Olympics. The
partnership with UK Sport has focused on sports involving high
speed where there are potential gains in the aerodynamic and
hydrodynamic characteristics of the athletes and their equipment.
Initially, much of this work concentrated on cycling, where results
have been dramatic. From coming third in the medals table at the
Athens Olympic cycling events in 2004, Great Britain progressed
over the next five years to come top of the medals tally for three
out of six Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Track Cycling World
Championships, and in 2008 to lead the Beijing Olympic cycling
medals table by an impressive margin, notably with Sir Chris Hoy’s
three gold medals. Other Olympic sports to have benefited from
PSEL expertise include kayaking, rowing and sailing. Winter sports
have also been successfully supported by the PSEL, in particular
snowboarding and skeleton bob. The development of the skeleton
bob used so successfully by Amy Williams to win gold in the 2010
Winter Olympics in Vancouver, is an example of a project run
principally by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
(EPSRC) funded Doctoral students at the University.
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SECTION ONE : TECHNOLOGY