Consultants - Sports Equipment
David Curtis
David is the Special Projects Manager in the Centre for Sports Engineering Research at Sheffield Hallam University. He has been with the centre since January 2000, and has previous engineering experience in the Aerospace and Oil & Gas Industries. He was an electrical engineering apprentice at Rolls Royce in Bristol before obtaining a BEng in Aeronautics and Astronautics from University of Southampton, and then an MSc in Subsea Engineering from Cranfield Institute of Technology. After several years in the Oil and Gas Industry working in subsea development and risk analysis he joined the centre in January 2000.
Within CSER David is responsible for developing and managing collaborative innovation projects such as the EU-funded sports cluster initiative SportsPulse, the cross-University Innovation Futures, and the current ProFit Field-Lab project. He has worked closely on the strategic development of the sports business sector in the Sheffield city region, and has considerable experience of helping sports companies make best use of University expertise and facilities for the development of new products. David also supports the Director on financial and business management of the centre. He has a research interest in the dynamic performance of sports equipment, particularly cricket bats, and undertakes consultancy projects with Gunn & Moore.
Jonathan S. Wheat PHD
Jon is a Principal Research Fellow in the Centre for Sports Engineering Research at Sheffield Hallam University. He gained his undergraduate degree from Manchester Metropolitan University before completing his PhD in sport and exercise biomechanics at Sheffield Hallam University. He lectured in sport and exercise biomechanics for seven years before joining the Centre for Sports Engineering Research full-time in 2010.
Jon works on biomechanics research and consultancy projects in the Centre and teaches on the MSc Sports Engineering and MSc Sport and Exercise Science degrees. He has a keen interest in the development of biomechanics measurement systems for use outside of the lab, in ecologically valid settings. A developing area of research is the application of depth cameras in sport and exercise biomechanics, performance analysis and health contexts. His work is influenced by the ecological approach to motor control/learning and Dynamical Systems Theory.
Jon also has an interest in golf biomechanics – working on several research and consultancy projects and supervising two PhD students in the area. He has contributed to several books, has approximately 35 peer-reviewed publications and has delivered several invited international presentations.