Dr Matt Carré

MEng, PhD

Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering

Second Year 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

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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 and second year tutor. He has previously acted as editor of the international journal, Sports Engineering.

Research Interests

Matt's research interests involve applying mechanical engineering concepts to situations that involve human interactions with products, devices and surfaces. This has developed from past research which focused on the development of sports equipment and surfaces and can now be considered as five main themes:

Shoe-Surface Interactions

This research theme was originally concerned with sports shoes and surfaces (particularly for football and tennis) but has since diversified to include pedestrian slips leading to collaboration with health and safety labs. Work so far has included modelling of stud-soil interactions; the development of new biomechanically informed shoe-traction measurement devices; and an improved understanding of the tribological mechanisms at play in a variety of human-floor interactions.

Tribology of Human Skin

Work on this area was initially carried out as an undergraduate project on rugby ball handling performance. This has since led to the completion of four PhD studies and numerous papers on the fundamental understanding of the effects of surface roughness, moisture and loading on skin tribology, as well as a range of medical and consumer applications (in collaboration with Dr Roger Lewis).

Human-Object Interactions

Matt's research on human-object interactions is generally concerned with the interface between the hand and a product or device. Recent work has included vibrations felt in hand-held objects and devices that use vibro-tactile feedback to communicate (e.g. mobile phones). This has led to collaboration with the Department of Psychology and the Centre for Assistive Technology and Digital Healthcare.

Modelling Damage to Human Bones

Work on modelling damage to human bones began as a collaborative undergraduate project with Dr Gwen Reilly from Engineering Materials. A PhD study and seed-corn cross-faculty funding has since led to work on a protocol for assessing non-accidental bone damage in children.

Design Methodologies for Sports Equipment and Surfaces

This research area is 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

Current and recent research projects led by or involving Dr Carré include:

• Tennis shoe-surface interactions (sponsored by EPSRC and the International Tennis Federation).
• "UNITISS" - Understanding interactions of human tissue with medical devices (sponsored by a Marie-Curie EU grant and in collaboration with Philips).
• Improving design and performance of medical examination gloves (sponsored by Polyco).
• Using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) to understand the properties that affect the friction of human skin.
• Improving handling of kitchen tools for older people (sponsored by the White Rose Network).
• "HATV-I" - Developing haptics in assistive technology for the visually-impaired (sponsored by an internal EPSRC pump-priming grant).
• Use of vibro-tactile feedback in electronic devices for the ageing population.
• CT-FE modelling of bone fractures.
• "VOICES" - Validation of injury mechanisms in children using engineering simulations (sponsored by Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust).

Teaching

• MEC202 Mechanics of Deformable Solids
• MEC421 Sports Engineering

Selected Publications

• Feasibility of using optical coherence tomography to study the influence of skin structures on finger friction,
  Liu, X., Lu, Z., Lewis, R., Carré, M. J. & Matcher, S. J. (2012)
  Tribology International, in press.


• Understanding the influence of surface roughness on the tribological interactions at the shoe-surface interface in tennis,
  Clarke, J. D., Damm, L., Dixon, S. & Carré, M. J. (2012)
  Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Engineering Tribology, 226(7), pp. 636-647.


• An assessment of the performance of grip enhancing agents used in sports applications,
  Carré, M. J., Collins, J. W., Lewis, R. & Tomlinson, S. (2012),
  Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Engineering Tribology, 226(7), pp. 616-625.


• Human finger contact with small, triangular ridged surfaces,
  Tomlinson, S., Carré, M. J., Lewis, R. & Franklin, S. E. (2011),
  Wear, 271(9-10), pp. 2346-2353.


• Understanding the friction mechanisms between the human finger and flat contacting surfaces in moist conditions,
  Tomlinson, S. E., Lewis, R., Liu, X., Texier, C. & Carré, M. J. (2010),
  Tribology Letters, 41(1), pp. 283-294.
  Online (open access)


• Sports ball aerodynamics: a numerical study of the erratic motion of soccer balls,
  Barber, S., Chin, S. B. & Carré, M. J. (2009),
  Journal of Computers and Fluids, 38(6), pp. 1091-1100.
  Online (open access)


• The effect of normal force and roughness on friction in human finger contact,
  Tomlinson, S. E., Lewis, R. &  Carré, M. J. (2009),
  Wear, 5-8, pp. 1311-1318.


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