Innovation Partners
Innovation can make the difference
James Roche
Related content
UK Sport Innovation Partner: An organisation or individual recognised by UK Sport as providing services that meet the world class standards of excellence in performance science and innovation required to make an impact on the UK’s best athletes and coaches.
Podium Innovation Partner: Provides significant (>£1million) financial support and / or equivalent value-in-kind expertise and services to UK Sport’s Research and Innovation programme over an Olympic cycle.
Innovation Partner: Provides expertise and services to UK Sport’s Research and Innovation programme for at least a three year continuous period.
Podium Innovation Partner
BAE Systems are a global defence and aerospace company with an outstanding record of innovation. The partnership with BAE Systems is unique within the Innovation Partners network as it is a value-in-kind relationship brokered by UK Sport. Read more about the UK Sport partnership with BAE Systems.
Innovation Partners
- epm: technology group pride themselves on a dynamic ‘sports like’ approach to their business. epm: technology group designs and manufactures high performance engineered composite components, supporting aerospace and the highest levels of international motorsport. epm: technology group's philosophy to offer customer focused technical excellence reinforces their unique approach to supplying all of their customers with technical solutions that add real performance value. epm: technology group are proud to supply UK Sport through a technical partnership and this is a significant achievement, which is testament to their young highly skilled team.
- Frazer-Nash Consultancy has been providing independent technical consultancy to UK Sport for over four years, supporting the body in keeping the UK’s athletes, in sports such as rowing and diving, at the forefront of international competition. With over 450 staff, Frazer-Nash are well placed to support the innovative needs of elite sports across a number of disciplines. The partnership continues to see Frazer-Nash providing bespoke engineering solutions to sports – from developing performance analysis software tools to the design and supply of training aids and competition equipment.
- Loughborough University Sports Technology Institute is a £15million initiative to enhance research, innovation and enterprise in the sport and leisure sector and develop cutting-edge technology to support elite performance. The Institute is home to the Sports Technology Research Group, one of the world’s leading research groups of its kind and the largest in the UK. The Group has established an international reputation for its work with global brands on the design, simulation, testing and manufacture of sporting goods. Around 50 academics, research associates, technicians and PhD students carry out wide-ranging research including athletic footwear, technical apparel, protective equipment, balls, bats, clubs, rackets and fitness equipment. The Institute’s track record of design-led innovation and accelerating novel concepts from initial stages through to commercialisation is unparalleled. As a research hub, the Sports Technology Institute benefits from established relationships with the University’s sports scientists, psychologists, biomechanists and human biologists. Its researchers have extensive experience of testing with numerous elite athletes and professional sportsmen and women spanning the most diverse array of sports. The Institute has been granted Innovation Partner status to work with UK Sport to ensure innovation in athletic equipment, apparel and footwear, coaching and feedback technologies is harnessed to maximise the potential of future British champions.
- The Department of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth, undertakes research in the following areas: Survival & Thermal Science; Occupational Science & Health; Sports Science (Performance); Sports Management & Pedagogy. These groupings are multi-disciplinary and not mutually exclusive. The work undertaken for UK Sport in recent years has focussed on the impact of environmental stress (heat) on performance and ways of mitigating this effect. In addition to the provision of advice to individual sports and athletes, more generic studies have been undertaken into the impact of rehydration drinks on performance; acclimation to heat; and active and passive methods of cooling athletes and support staff.
- Sheffield Hallam University’s Centre for Sport and Engineering Research is an internationally renowned centre of excellence in Sports Engineering, with over 140 years of cumulative experience. It has a focus on developing fundamental understanding of the complex sporting environment and the creation of new applications of advanced technology. The centre undertakes research and consultancy for a diverse range of sports companies and sport organisations including the International Tennis Federation, Adidas, Prince, Puma and UK Sport. It also delivers large collaborative projects with agencies such as the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund. Public engagement is a key element of the culture in the centre, and numerous high profile projects have been delivered with the British Council, the Royal Academy of Engineering and The Institution of Engineering and Technology. As a UK Sport Innovation Partner, it provides support across many sports, with a particular emphasis on the design of bespoke performance measurement systems, which includes associated data management tools.
- TotalSim are fluid dynamics consultants, specialising in the application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to engineering design and the sale and support of engineering simulation software. TotalSim was formed in early 2007 and at present employs ten engineers, all of whom have many years experience of CFD application and a combined pool of expertise capable of tackling most engineering problems. TotalSim’s fluid dynamics consultancy services include product design development, design optimisation, flow characterisation and understanding of existing fluid dynamic devices, performance mapping of products over a range of conditions and scale-up of prototype designs without the need for full-scale testing. In all cases, TotalSim engineers are experienced in understanding customer requirements and advising on the intelligent use of CFD alongside other test resources. TotalSim’s engineers have worked for UK Sport for more than 3 years on a variety of projects from cycling and sailing to skating. Most of the work has involved aerodynamic design and optimisation, working to achieve a performance advantage. TotalSim has worked in collaboration with other consultants to support wind tunnel and other physical testing.
- With its experienced staff of engineers, the Wolfson Unit operates a consultancy service in ship design, yacht design, small craft design, naval architecture, marine technology and industrial aerodynamics, providing tank testing, wind tunnel testing, consultancy, design software, onboard systems and innovative research to a world wide customer base. The Wolfson Unit for Marine Technology and Industrial Aerodynamics is part of the School of Engineering Sciences at the University of Southampton. To date the Wolfson Unit has undertaken wind tunnel testing, towing tank testing, software development and general consultancy on behalf of UK Sport for track cycling, sailing, canoeing, rowing and bob skeleton, with an emphasis upon direct performance gains and an understanding of the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic reasons for such improvements. In addition, the School of Engineering Sciences currently have three Engineering Doctorate students sponsored by UK Sport which allow an in-depth study of some aspect of a sport in a more research based environment.
