Science and engineering have dramatically shaped the modern sporting world, sometimes causing controversy, but always stimulating fascination. As our tennis stars hold the nations gaze at Wimbledon, and as Great Britain’s athletes prepare to compete in Beijing, this event will explore the cutting edge technologies that help to break records and move sport forward. From the latest advances in tennis racket design to building the world’s fastest bike; the engineers who work behind the scenes in the world of sport will take to the stage.

David James

David James is a lecturer and senior scientist in the world leading Centre for Sport and Exercise Science at Sheffield Hallam University. David is a highly respected science communicator and has worked extensively with the media and groups of young people.

David was the principal lecturer on the 2004 ‘Institute of Physics Schools Lecture Tour’ (Engineering the Olympics) and he regularly delivers high profile public lectures on the role that technology plays in sport. He has a reputation for delivering lively, informative and engaging lectures and has appeared on countless stages including the Cheltenham Science Festival, the BA Festival of Science and the Royal Institution’s Faraday lecture theatre. David has managed to make experiments actually work on live TV and is a regular commentator on the radio and in the press. He has worked with the CBBC on their XChange and Wizz Wizz, Bang Bang shows and was awarded the Research Councils’ Science Communicators award after being the subject of the BBC documentary, Fasttrax

Tom Allen

Tom Allen is a 2nd year PhD student and sponsored by Prince Sports. He studies at Sheffield Hallam University as part of the Sports Engineering Research Group. His project is to build and validate a finite-element model of a tennis ball-racket impact. Once complete, the model will serve as an effective design tool as well a valuable research aid. Tom graduated from the University of Plymouth in 2005, in BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering with an industrial placement at Adidas. He enjoys a number of sports, including sailing, surfing and snowboarding.