Sports engineering
Our sports engineering projects are focussed in two areas: consultancy on the development of wingsail technology and Sports Engineering in Education (SEE).
The aim of SEE is to introduce and promote science, engineering and technology in sport to students in Key Stages 2 to 4 (with possible extension to other groups) using Sports Science and Engineering in multimedia teaching materials.
Alison Cooke, founder of Cooke Associates, was until recently a member of the Executive Committee of the International Sports Engineering Association which manages the Sports Engineering journal and related conferences. Alison was also Director of Sports Engineering research at Cambridge University.
Alison has published widely on sports engineering. A full list of Cooke Associates' projects is available here.
Sports Engineering News
In 2013, the Sports Engineering educational resources developed by Cooke Associates were made available in the eLibrary of the National STEM Centre of the University of York, in association with Mayden Foundation:
- Sportscience and Engineering in Education
- The Science of Tennis
- The Physics of Tennis
- The Physics of Spin in Sport
Watch this video about 'what tennis pros look at when they pick a ball', released in June 2021. This gives a little insight into professional tennis players perspective of what makes a better tennis ball and the physics behind it.
Cooke Associates, in association with the Lawn Tennis Association, has completed a CD-ROM resource for Key Stage 4. It covers four teaching modules using the science/engineering in racquets, balls, shoes and flights to teach about waves, energy, forces and graphs respectively. For more information, see our new web-page entitled school tennis.
In 2003, a computer-based resource for coaches on the science of tennis was launched at the Lawn Tennis Association’s Club Coaches conference in Bournemouth. Just afterwards in New York, Cooke Associates and The Lawn Tennis Association together introduced the project to the US Tennis Association Tennis Teachers' Conference, which runs alongside the US Open. This resulted in a request for 10,000 copies! For more information, see our science of tennis page.
Partners in sports engineering
We have worked on projects in collaboration with:
