On Monday 13th March, we were delighted to welcome Jorge Candiotti, an Associate Professor from the University of Pittsburgh to our laboratory. This visit continues the longstanding relationship between our institutions, which includes the expertise of Dr Rory Cooper and his fantastic assistive technologies for wheelchair propulsion.
Jorge arrived from the USA on Monday to deliver some force-measuring handrims, which will be used for testing in the laboratory. Over the next few days, he collaborated with Professor Vicky Tolfrey, Dr Thomas Rietveld, Dr Stuart McErlain-Naylor, and PhD student Lara Brittain, helping them in calibrating the new SmartWheels and learning how to use the new technologies.
Lara Brittain, who will use the SmartWheels for her PhD research on wheelchair racing, commented:
“The new SmartWheels will enable me to collect biomechanical data throughout the wheelchair racing push cycle. With these SmartWheels, we aim to be able to synchronise our technologies to further enable us to collect key performance metrics within wheelchair racing.”
Reflecting on his visit to the Human Engineering Research Laboratories at the University of Pittsburgh last year, Dr Thomas Rietveld said:
“After our trip to Pittsburgh last May, it was incredible to host Jorge for a few days in the PHC laboratory. Combining the expertise of engineering and sports performance is what drives innovation forward. There are still new opportunities on the horizon to extend our collaboration and make the step from wheelchair racing to other wheelchair court sports (tennis, rugby, basketball).”
On the final day, we also welcomed Caroline Adams and Alison Macpherson from the UK Sports Institute to explore how this technology could be incorporated into future work.