Spectrum News: UC Football team helped by engineers, fabrication lab
Digital Fabrication Lab works with UC Athletics to help with wearable tech
Spectrum News highlighted a collaboration between UC Athletics and UC's Digital Fabrication Lab to protect wearable tech worn by football players during practices and games.
The lab uses industrial machines to create custom models to exacting specifications for a variety of student and faculty research projects and commercial uses. The lab is in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science but works with colleges and departments across campus.
Digital Fabrication Lab Manager Sam Antoline holds up a 3D model of a heart. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
Their latest project took them to the UC Athletics Center to develop a custom-made protective case for sensors the Bearcats’ football team wears to track player performance.
Lab Manager Sam Antoline said he and his students have worked with doctors at hospitals such as UC Medical Center and Cincinnati Children’s, where the lab produced patient-specific heart models for surgical planning and practice.
And they have helped aerospace engineering students visualize nozzle designs for jet aircraft. They also support local industry by offering their services to companies that need help with modeling electronics, machine parts or other equipment. But this was the first time they worked with wearable technology.
Antoline said they went through several iterations of 3D-fabricated prototypes to find a version that would work and fit best around the player's shoulder pads.
Assistant Director of Football Sports Performance Brandon Garcia said the team uses the sensors to monitor player performance, which is especially helpful when a player is recuperating from an injury.
Watch the Spectrum News story.
Featured image at top: Assistant Director of Football Sports Performance Brandon Garcia holds up wearable technology that helps monitor player performance. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
Digital Fabrication Lab Manager Sam Antoline and his students worked with UC Athletics on a wearable technology project for the football team. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
Related Stories
WCPO: UC engineer explains design of Joe Burrow's new helmet
July 26, 2023
WCPO talks to UC biomedical engineering Professor Eric Nauman about Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow's new helmet and the risks of concussion in the NFL.
Cincy Lifestyle: Burrow's new helmet is designed to prevent concussions
September 6, 2023
WCPO's Cincy Lifestyle talks to University of Cincinnati biomedical engineer Eric Nauman about how he and his students are putting new helmets to the test to prevent concussions.
Sports Illustrated: UC engineering grad Alec Pierce journeys to NFL
August 31, 2022
Sports Illustrated featured University of Cincinnati alumnus and Indianapolis Colts NFL football player Alec Pierce. While at UC, Pierce was a standout wide receiver for Bearcats Football. He graduated in December 2021 with a mechanical engineering degree.