Adidas-Loughborough University team win prestigious UK award

London – Loughborough University’s 20-year partnership with global sports brand adidas was announced the winner of the 2023 Royal Academy of Engineering Bhattacharyya Award in recognition of their stellar academia–industry collaboration.

Funded by the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the annual, £25,000 prize is awarded to a UK university or college that has demonstrated a sustained, strategic industrial partnership that has benefitted society.

This year, the academy recognised the joint work by Adidas and Loughborough University’s engineering, aerodynamics, ergonomics and sports-science teams to make sports safer, more accessible and allow people to perform at their best.

Working with the university, it noted, Adidas has developed sports equipment and clothing for improved performance, safety and inclusivity that has brought iconic products to market.

The joint research has, for example, impacted every major tournament football since 2004, with the partners now working on developments for the next FIFA World Cup in 2026.

The collaborative R&D work has encompassed the optimisation of surface features to enhance aerodynamic stability of footballs, continued the 24 Oct announcement.

For instance, Loughborough work in tomographic particle image velocimetry has shone new light on the complex ‘vortex shedding’ that takes place in the wake of a ball in flight.

Introduced for the first time at the 2010 World Cup, this technology and related research has also been applied to other sports, from cricket to motorsports.

“Our detailed analysis of the impacts that lasts only a few milliseconds has [also] revealed how some of these materials behave under rapid loading,” said Dr Rebecca Grant, lecturer in biometrology at Loughborough University.

“This has supported the development of football products that perform under massive global scrutiny. This expertise in understanding short duration collisions has been shared across other sports,” explained Grant.

The award was collected by Dr Tim Lucas, adidas VP engineering and technology, prof Andy Harland, director of Loughborough University’s sports technology institute.

“Our journey [with Adidas] has shaped the lives of so many colleagues and researchers over two decades," said Harland.

“Tim and his team have been critical in translating Loughborough research to influence so many iconic sporting products and given international reach to our impact.

“We look forward to extending our partnership and influencing more lives through great engineering research.”