Ideas4Innovation: 2 days left to apply, 400 to make a difference
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Amy Williams during wind tunnel testing
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Jessica Whitehorn 07 July 2010
There may be 750 days to go until the Olympic Games in London begin, in which athletes and their coaches will be working relentlessly up to the wire to perfect their performance, but Dr Scott Drawer, Head of Research and Innovation at UK Sport, believes that there are realistically only around 400 days left for new ideas in science and engineering to have an impact on Britain’s performance. With the applications for UK Sport’s 2010 Ideas4Innovation competition closing on Friday (July 9), now is the time to get involved.
Dr Scott Drawer said: “Any new idea that we think could make a real impact on British Olympic and Paralympic performances in 2012, whether it be for new equipment or clothing, a novel training technique or coaching tool or a breakthrough in performance medicine, it will take some time to test the robustness and performance impact of the concept.
“While we are used to responding rapidly where we think significant gains can be made, there’s more likelihood of us finding a real cutting edge performance solution ahead of 2012 the sooner people tell us their ideas. Realistically, we estimate we have around a 400-day window left to make a difference.”
UK Sport’s Ideas4Innovation awards scheme is aimed at harnessing exceptional research concepts and proposals which, given sufficient funding and support, could boost British athletes’ performances at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
There are two competitions; the New Researchers Award - aimed at final year and first year post graduate students - and the Garage Innovators Award - open to any member of the public with creative ideas that may have the potential to enhance the performance of British Olympic or Paralympic athletes.
Since the scheme was launched in 2008, UK Sport has awarded three prizes of £25,000 to students and individuals to invest in the development of their ideas. The deadline for applying for the 2010 prize is this Friday, 9 July 2010.
Alison Macpherson, UK Sport’s Ideas4Innovation Coordinator, said: “Imagine how amazing it would be to see your idea realized at the London Olympic or Paralympic Games. Athletes use equipment to perform, rely on their bodies to perform and train to perform; so get your thinking caps on and if you can apply your knowledge or existing research to improve an athlete’s performance based on any of these factors, you could directly contribute to a medal winning performance for Great Britain in 2012.”
