3 Review(s)

Sports engineering is about the design and optimisation of theequipment that athletes use. The field is very broad andencompasses many different disciplines. From improving the hulldesign of a racing yacht, to understanding the mechanics of cricketball bounce.Being good at sport is not necessary, but a good aptitude forscience is essential. The sports engineer requires expertise in manytechnical skills; from mechanical design to aerodynamics, materialscience to computer modelling. Most of these skills are very similarto those of a mechanical engineer; indeed many successful sportsengineers take their first degree in mechanical engineering.However, there are now over 20 different universities in the UKthat offer specific degree programmes in sports engineering orsports technology. These degree programmes equip the studentwith both general engineering skills and the essential experienceof sporting case studies. You may study biomechanics, anatomy,exercise physiology and sports psychology and you'll certainly haveto develop analytical skills and expertise in scientific enquiry.You could end up designing equipment or working withathletes to understand their interaction with the equipment andhelp them improve their performance. You could even work withgoverning bodies to assess the effects of a change in the rules orunderstand injury risks and how to reduce them.Sport engineers are responsible, for example, for theintroduction of a new type of goalkeeper's glove. It is made usinga complex elastomeric compound discovered and developed at theUniversity of Hertfordshire, called d3o. It is a shear-thickeningmaterial which is soft and flexible when moved slowly, but whenit is moved fast - for example, when compressed by an impact - itsmolecules lock together. The material stiffens, absorbing the impactthus providing shock absorption which protects the goalies handswithout compromising the flexibility of the glove.