Sports Engineers

The origins of sports engineering can be traced to Sir Isaac Newton’s studies of the flight mechanics of a tennis ball in the 1670s. Newton used these and other observations to develop the Laws of Motion—three statements that explain the relations between the forces acting on a body and the motion of the body. For hundreds of years since then, scientists and engineers have conducted studies and experiments to better understand the physical forces that are in play when athletes compete. Their research has given athletes an extra edge while training and during competition, improved sports equipment and playing areas, and provided a better experience to fans. The International Sports Engineering Association was founded in 1998 to represent the interests of sports engineers. Advances in technology such as artificial intelligence, advanced data science and analytics, 3D printing, and nanomaterials have fueled growth in this field in recent years.