So what do engineers in sport actually do?
There’s many different aspects to sports engineering and technology. Generally, engineers will focus on the basics – what athletes are wearing, what their equipment they are using, the space they’re doing it in and ways to measure what they’re doing. The main aims are to get better results whilst keeping athletes safe. However engineering extends to all sorts of areas that are important to sport, and sporting events – even into outer space!
Why not have a think about whether you might like a job using engineering for sport?
If you love computers, you could develop apps to monitor athletes or footballers or anyone who likes to play sport. You could find new ways to collect data from wearable devices and write programmes to analyse the data and provide even more useful information to the players as well as their coaches and managers.
Analysing data is a huge part of sports technology – whether it’s someone’s performance or how well a piece of equipment works. There’s plenty of work for those people who love crunching numbers.
If you invent or make things, what about improving the design of equipment like cycle helmets, golf clubs, or shuttlecocks? You could identify problems with current designs, doing research on what would help to overcome those, and then coming up with brand new prototypes to test. Testing’s almost an industry in itself – using wind tunnels, computer modelling as well as real players to find out how things behave in fast moving environments.
And then there’s the clothing the athletes wear. Someone has to create new fabrics, and design clothing that enhances performance.
Fabric and material technology is right at the front of sports innovation – and coming up with new materials involves getting right down the microscope using optic fibre, carbon fibre and even nanotechnology.
If you like thinking big maybe you could design the venues for sporting events. There’s such a variety to choose from – football stadiums, tennis courts, velodromes, athletic tracks. And its not just bricks and mortar – technology can be used in a million different ways to improve the game for competitors and spectators – for example you could design a running track with LEDS that change the colour of the track the faster athlete’s run. It might help the athletes see who’s accelerating and be fun for the spectators. Spectators are an important part of sport – and so is fun!
PUTTING ON A SHOW
Sporting events should be exciting and enjoyable and creating an atmosphere can be made easier using music and lighting to get the crowds in the mood. With big events like the Olympics there are frequently lavish Opening Ceremonies with many special effects – and so there will always be the need for people who can put on a good show especially when technology can be at the forefront.
For example in the 2018 South Korea Winter Olympics a stunning light show was created using drones, setting a world record.
TAKE TO THE SKIES
Drones and robotics and increasingly used in all sorts of spheres including sports. There’s fun to be had in using them to develop new camera technology – whether to help spectators see better or umpires to judge.
The possibilities are out of this world – quite literally! Engineers are already studying how space travel affects our bodies. Weightlessness causes muscle weakness but with no gravity, it’s not very easy to run, lift weights or stretch out muscles without specialised equipment. And in low gravity if you tried to do a press up – you’d just keep going UP!
Fitness machines designed for astronauts are already being used on earth by athletes to improve their performance and to help recovery after injury. And with space missions likely to get longer and longer, engineers will have to develop new ways for people to run, cycle and maybe even swim in space…Just think, perhaps one day we’ll see the SPACE OLYMPICS!
CREATED WITH SUPPORT FROM THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.
For more information visit The IET.
Kwa hiyo, ni nini hasa wanachofanya wahandisi wa michezo? Kuna mambo mengi tofauti ya uhandisi wa michezo na teknolojia. Kwa ujumla, wahandisi watazingatia mambo ya msingi - nini wanariadha wanavaa, ni vifaa gani wanavyotumia, nafasi wanayofanya na njia za kupima kile wanachofanya. Lengo kuu ni kupata matokeo bora wakati wa kuweka wanariadha salama. Hata hivyo uhandisi huenea kwa aina zote za maeneo ambayo ni muhimu kwa michezo, na matukio ya michezo <unk> hata katika nafasi ya nje! Kwa nini usifikirie kama ungependa kazi ya kutumia uhandisi kwa ajili ya michezo? Ikiwa unapenda kompyuta, unaweza kuunda programu za kufuatilia wanariadha au wachezaji wa mpira wa miguu au mtu yeyote anayependa kucheza michezo. Unaweza kupata njia mpya za kukusanya data kutoka kwa vifaa vinavyoweza kuvaliwa na kuandika programu za kuchambua data na kutoa habari muhimu zaidi kwa wachezaji na pia makocha na wasimamizi wao. Uchambuzi wa data ni sehemu kubwa ya teknolojia ya michezo - iwe ni utendaji wa mtu au jinsi vizuri kipande cha vifaa kazi. Kuna mengi ya kazi kwa ajili ya wale watu ambao upendo crunching namba. Ikiwa unavumbua au kutengeneza vitu, vipi kuhusu kuboresha muundo wa vifaa kama kofia za baiskeli, klabu za gofu, au shuttlecocks? Unaweza kutambua matatizo na miundo ya sasa, kufanya utafiti juu ya nini kusaidia kushinda wale, na kisha kuja na bidhaa mpya prototypes kupima. Majaribio <unk> ni karibu sekta yenyewe <unk> kutumia handaki upepo, kompyuta modeling kama vile wachezaji halisi ili kupata jinsi mambo tabia katika mazingira ya kusonga haraka. Na kisha kuna mavazi ambayo wanariadha huvaa. Mtu fulani anapaswa kutengeneza vitambaa vipya, na kubuni mavazi yanayoongeza utendaji. Teknolojia ya kitambaa na nyenzo iko mbele ya uvumbuzi wa michezo <unk> na kuja na vifaa vipya inahusisha kupata moja kwa moja chini ya darubini kwa kutumia nyuzi za macho, nyuzi za kaboni na hata nanoteknolojia. Kama wewe kama kufikiri kubwa labda unaweza kubuni maeneo kwa ajili ya matukio ya michezo. Kuna aina kama hiyo ya kuchagua kutoka  viwanja vya mpira wa miguu, mahakama za tenisi, velodromes, nyimbo za riadha. Na si tu matofali na chokaa - teknolojia inaweza kutumika katika njia milioni tofauti ya kuboresha mchezo kwa washindani na watazamaji - kwa mfano unaweza kubuni mbio track na LEDs kwamba kubadilisha rangi ya track mbio kasi mwanariadha. Inaweza kusaidia wanariadha kuona nani anaongeza kasi na kuwa na furaha kwa watazamaji. Watazamaji ni sehemu muhimu ya michezo <unk> na hivyo ni furaha! Maonyesho ya michezo yanapaswa kuwa ya kuvutia na ya kufurahisha na kuunda hali inaweza kufanywa rahisi kwa kutumia muziki na taa ili kupata umati katika hali ya hewa. Katika matukio makubwa kama vile Olimpiki kuna mara nyingi lavish sherehe za ufunguzi na athari nyingi maalum <unk> na hivyo kutakuwa na haja ya watu ambao wanaweza kuweka juu ya show nzuri hasa wakati teknolojia inaweza kuwa katika mstari wa mbele. Katika michezo ya Olimpiki ya majira ya baridi ya Korea Kusini ya 2018, ndege za kuendesha ndege zilitengeneza maonyesho ya taa ya kushangaza, na kuweka rekodi ya ulimwengu. Drones na roboti zinatumiwa sana katika sekta mbalimbali za biashara. Kuna furaha kuwa na katika kutumia yao kuendeleza teknolojia mpya kamera <unk> kama kusaidia watazamaji kuona bora au waamuzi kuhukumu. Uwezekano ni nje ya dunia hii <unk> kabisa kihalisi! Wahandisi tayari wanachunguza jinsi kusafiri angani huathiri miili yetu. Weightlessness husababisha udhaifu wa misuli lakini bila mvuto, si rahisi sana kukimbia, kuinua uzito au kunyoosha misuli bila vifaa maalum. Na katika mvuto wa chini kama wewe alijaribu kufanya press juu <unk> wewe <unk>d tu kuendelea kwenda juu! Mashine za mazoezi ya mwili zilizotengenezwa kwa ajili ya wanaanga tayari zinatumiwa duniani na wanariadha ili kuboresha utendaji wao na kusaidia kupona baada ya kujeruhiwa. Na kwa sababu ya misheni za angani zitakuwa ndefu zaidi na zaidi, wahandisi watalazimika kuendeleza njia mpya za watu kukimbia, kuendesha baiskeli na labda hata kuogelea angani... Fikiria tu, labda siku moja tutaona Olimpiki za Angani! Iliundwa kwa msaada kutoka Taasisi ya Uhandisi na Teknolojia. Kwa habari zaidi, tembelea IATA.