The 2014 STE@M Day connected more than 20 MIT labs with companies like Nike and Red Bull. Image via steam.mit.edu.
In high-level athletic endeavors, like professional, college, and outdoor sports, on-field action is only a portion of the game or event’s overall story.
Increasingly, more attention is focused on analytic data that can evaluate in-game strategy, like at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, or technology that can monitor equipment or optimize performance.
And similar to statistical analytics, a portion of the research in wearable and equipment technology is taking place at MIT, especially in the STE@M (Sports Technology and Education at MIT) Program.
“The field of sports technology is growing in popularity but there are not a lot of schools in the U.S. that are offering sports technology programs,” says Professor Anette (Peko) Hosoi. “STE@M connects MIT and faculty with sports industry professionals who are looking for research partnerships.”
STE@M, which was started in 2011 by Hosoi and now includes more than 25 faculty, focuses on research projects that intersect sports and engineering and making connections with companies interested in athletic-related research.
“Engineering Thrills,” MIT Technology Review
“(STE@M) projects—which can take the form of a graduate thesis, undergraduate research, a professor’s side venture, or a class assignment—are developing such ideas as an app for fantasy football that trolls Twitter for live updates, a model to analyze kiteboard performance, and a stronger, cheaper monoski for disabled skiers.”
The results have been tangible. In January 2013, Hosoi and a group of MIT students and faculty were invited by the outdoor company Patagonia to Maui, Hawaii, for a week-long workshop on wind technology and wind sports.
STE@M Day 2014. Image via steam.mit.edu.
In April 2014, the group hosted STE@M Day, and eight companies including Nike, Red Bull, and Patagonia visited MIT campus to tour more than 20 labs, connect with students, and share some of their company’s pressing research concerns.
“That was the perfect gateway for companies to partner with MIT and having a day specifically designed for sports technology was really exciting,” Hosoi says. “If Nike comes to us and says, ‘We need research in fiber manufacturing,’ we know exactly who at MIT can help.”
Sports technology was a research focus for Connie Yang ’03 as an MIT undergraduate. During a UROP, she worked with Research Affiliate Kim Blair—who headed STE@M’s predecessor, Sports Technology @ MIT—to measure performance and develop for Prince tennis racquets, and for her senior thesis, she researched the track-traction characteristics of New Balance basketball shoes.
Connie Yang ’03
After graduation, she parlayed her experience to a four-month internship with Nike in Oregon.
“I was able to get that internship because of my MIT experience,” she says. “Because of the research I had done, I came in with credibility, and it was exactly what I wanted to be learning and doing.”
After receiving her doctorate from Loughborough University’s Sports Technology Institute in the United Kingdom, Yang spent eight years as an engineer at NEMO Equipment, Inc., a company that designs outdoor equipment, tents, and shelters.
“People want a way of quantifying everything,” she says. “And that’s happening through engineering, technology, and innovation. It’s the engineer’s job to keep moving forward and continue to innovate.”
While at NEMO, she served as a mentor for MIT course 2.009, and got involved with STE@M, which had not yet been created when she was at MIT.
“Peko has really expanded the program got the buy-in from the faculty—and that’s a great thing,” Yang says. “Sports technology is a field that, even in five years, it will be even bigger,” It’s going to be a great field to work, and (STE@M) is going to be hugely beneficial to MIT students looking to get involved.”
For more information on STE@M, visit their website and read a February 2014 article on the program from MIT Technology Review.
{ 0 comments… add one now }