Dr Matt Carré

MEng, PhD

Senior Lecturer in Sports Engineering

Postgraduate (Research) Admissions Tutor

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
UK

Telephone: +44 (0) 114 222 7839
Fax: +44 (0) 114 222 7890

email : M.J.Carre@sheffield.ac.uk

---

Profile

Matt is an alumnus of the department, having completed a Masters degree here in 1996 and a PhD in 2000. He is now a senior lecturer in the department, PGR Admissions Tutor and Course Director for Sports Engineering.

He is currently Treasurer of the International Sports Engineering Association and has previously been Editor of the international journal, Sports Engineering.

Research Interests

Matt's research interests involve applying engineering knowledge (e.g. aerodynamics, impact mechanics, tribology) to improve the design of sports equipment (e.g. soccer balls, cricket pitches and hockey sticks). More recently, research activity has focused on human interactions with objects and led to work applied in areas other than sport.

A variety of projects have been carried out as part of the Sports Engineering Research Group whose work involves the design and development of sports equipment.

Recent activities include examining the behaviour of studded footwear interacting with natural and synthetic football pitches; human perception of the performance of field hockey sticks; the aerodynamics of footballs and their resulting trajectories during, for example, a free kick and the tribology of human skin.

Many of these projects are driven by real problems experienced by industry and/or sports governing bodies. Solving these problems aids the improvement of sports products and, ultimately, enhances people's enjoyment of sport.

Research projects

Recent research projects include:

• Understanding the effect of surface roughness on sports ball aerodynamics

• Understanding human grip of objects

• Understanding the intercation between studded footwear and surfaces

Selected Publications

• Review of the frictional properties of the finger-object contact when gripping,
  Tomlinson, S., Lewis, R., and Carré, M. J. (2007),
  Journal Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Engineering Tribology, 221(8), pp. 841-850,
  Online (open access)

• High-speed obervations of football boot-surface interactions of players in their natural environment,
  Kirk, R. F., Noble, I. S. G., Mitchell, T., Rolf, C., Haake, S. J., and Carré, M. J. (2007),
  Sports Engineering, 10(3), pp. 129-144,
  Online (open access)

• A new measure of roughness for defining the aerodynamic performance of sports balls,
  Haake, S. J., Goodwill, S. R., and Carré, M. J. (2007),
  Journal Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Mechanical Engineering Science, 221(7), pp. 789-806,
  Online (open access)

• A hybrid method for assessing the performance of sports surfaces during ball impacts,
  Carré, M. J., James, D.M., and Haake, S. J. (2006),
  Journal Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part L: Journal of Materials: Design and Applications, 220(1), pp. 31-39,
  Online (open access)

• Understanding the effect of seams on the aerodynamics of an association football,
  Carré, M. J., Goodwill, S. R., and Haake, S. J. (2005),
  Journal Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Mechanical Engineering Science, 219(7), pp. 657-666,
  Online (open access)

• Predicting the playing character of cricket pitches,
  James, D.M., Carré, M. J., and Haake, S. J. (2005),
  Sports Engineering, 8(4), pp. 193-208,
  Online (open access)

• Oblique impact of thick walled pressurized spheres as used in tennis,
  Haake, S. J., Carré, M. J., and Goodwill, S. R. (2005),
  Journal Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Mechanical Engineering Science, 219(11), pp. 1179-1189,
  Online (open access)

• Impact of a non-homogenous sphere on a rigid surface,
  Carré, M. J., James, D.M., and Haake, S. J.(2004),
  Journal Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Mechanical Engineering Science, 218(3), pp. 278-282,
  Online (open access)

• The dynamic impact characteristics of tennis balls with tennis rackets,
  Haake, S. J., Carré, M. J., and Goodwill, S. R. (2003),
  Journal of Sports Sciences, 21(10), pp. 839-850,
  Online (journal subscription required)

• The curve kick of a football II: Flight through the air,
  Carré, M. J., Asai, T., Akatsuka, T., and Haake, S. J. (2002),
  Sports Engineering, 5(4), pp. 193-200,
  Online (journal subscription required)

• The dynamic behaviour of cricket balls during impact and variations due to grass and soil type,
  Carré, M. J., Baker, S. W., Newell, A. J., and Haake, S. J. (1999),
  Sports Engineering, 2(3), pp. 145-160,
  Online (journal subscription required)