31 July 2006

A Media Fellowship for Peter Styring

Dr. Peter Styring has been awarded a prestigious and highly competitive EPSRC Senior Media Fellowship. “Engineering Science in Sport and Everyday Life” aims to raise public awareness of science and engineering through TV and radio programmes, the printed media and public lectures.

The main area of the Fellowship will address engineering science in skiing through Peter’s involvement with BBC Sport’s Ski Sunday. Peter will develop and provide technical analyses on the programme, relating performances to the physics underlying the sport and the way new materials are engineered to enhance performance. One of the key deliverables will be an in-depth analysis for the 2007 FIS Ski World Championships to be held in February in Åre, Sweden. This will complement his interests in snowsports engineering both through his involvement with the University of Sheffield spin-off company Wildfire Snowsports Limited, and his coaching activities in skiing. Peter is manager and coach of the Yorkshire Freestyle Ski Squad, a member of the Council of Snowsport England and a Snowsport Scotland UK Artificial Ski Slope Instructor. Occasionally he oils his joints and competes in competitions, most recently debuting in a Moguls competition at the Yorkshire Ski Federation Championships.

Peter is also working on content for a documentary on how science and engineering are being used to address waste and energy issues in the UK. This will link in with Peter’s contribution to the ‘C-Cycle’ research consortium which will look at carbon dioxide capture and activation, in collaboration with seven other leading UK universities.

As a direct consequence of the SMF award, Peter has also been awarded the 2006 SETPOINT Christmas Lecture which will be on the ‘Science of Snow and Skiing’ and the opportunity to contribute regular technical features to Snowsport News magazine.