Professor Steve Haake is head of the Sports Engineering Research Group at Sheffield Hallam University, which employs around 20 researchers and PhD students.  Originally gaining a 1st in Physics at Leeds University he lectured for fifteen years in Mechanical Engineering and founded the International Sports Engineering Association, the journal Sports Engineering and the International Conference of Sports Engineering (of which the first two were held in Sheffield).  He has edited 6 books, given over a dozen international keynotes and contributed to over 130 journal and conference papers on sports engineering.  He is a member of the Technical Commission of the International Tennis Federation advising on the effect of equipment design on the rule of tennis.

Dr David James is a lecturer in Sports Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University. A very keen sportsman and a senior scientist in a world leading research centre, he has worked extensively with the media and groups of young people. Recent projects have included the development of British Cycling’s highly successful Olympic track bike, and the aerodynamic optimisation of skeleton bobsled athlete Kristan Bromley. David 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 Institute’s Faraday lecture theatre.

Dr. John Hart is a Senior Sports CFD Engineer, working within the Sports Engineering Research Group, based within the Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Sheffield Hallam University. Dr Hart graduated with a Masters of Mechanical Engineering in 1998, and PhD in Engineering in 2002, both from The University of Sheffield, before joining SERG in early 2003 as an aerodynamics and reverse engineering specialist.

Since joining SERG Dr Hart has provided engineering consultancy services in these areas to a wide range of clients working with both commercial international companies, and with British elite athletes and teams. In 2004 Dr Hart worked with both the British Cycling team, and the British Sailing team, in the preparations for their Athens 2004 Olympic campaigns. In the years leading up to the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games he also worked with the British #1 male Skeleton Bob Sled Slider, Kristan Bromley, as an aerodynamic consultant. He continues to work in the field of Skeleton Bob Sled with the British National Elite Squad, as part of the UK Sport funded Innovation Program.

Nick Hamilton is a Senior Sports Engineer within the Sports Engineering Research Group at Sheffield Hallam University.  He has been working as a Sports Engineer for the last 9 years and is now the lead designer of the creative and consultancy team within the group. Nick has developed a wide variety of products for a diverse range of sporting companies from ice skates to carbon fibre time trial bikes, golf clubs to hang glider components.

Simon Choppin works as a Sports Engineer Researcher at Sheffield Hallam University, specialising in impact dynamics, high speed video and education and outreach. Before completing his PhD at Sheffield University, Simon obtained a first in Mechanical Engineering with Mathematics at Nottingham University.

His PhD investigated tennis racket dynamics and involved working closely with the International Tennis Federation. In 2006 Simon developed and pioneered a 3D method of racket and ball tracking which was used at the Wimbledon Qualifying tournament. His paper on this testing, presented at the Tennis Science and Technology Conference in 2007 won him the Howard Brody Award for outstanding academic paper.

Dr Martin Strangwood runs the Sports Materials Research Group at the University of Birmingham with 15 current and completed PhDs. Martin gained his BA and PhD in Metallurgy and Materials Science at Cambridge and, after a spell with AEA Technology, returned to academia at Birmingham in 1990.

For the last 10 years he has concentrated on identifying the relationships between materials processing and properties with performance in sports equipment. This work has concentrated on golf (with the R & A and PGA) and cycling (with Reynolds) but is extending to hockey, cricket and rowing. He is currently working on a number of international masters courses covering the selection and use of materials in sports equipment.