I grew up in Germany and attended university in Berlin where I studied a BSc in Physics. I then decided that I wanted to explore sports engineering further so did a master’s at Chemnitz University of Technology, where I was also a student researcher.
In my years as a competitive rower, we had several occasions where researchers assessed our performance using force measurement technology. This was the first time I engaged with the idea of combining technical and sports-related knowledge in a future job. When I picked up the game of golf the first time about six years ago, I developed a strong passion for the game. From that moment on I knew that my dream job would be working in golf research.
With Loughborough University being the world leading University not only in sports-related research, but particularly in golf research, I was delighted to find the perfect project advertised just at the right time when I was about to finish my master’s, that combined both my passion and my technical expertise. Additionally, I was excited to join Loughborough because of the established links to the sports equipment industry and how much the research from the University has helped to advance golf club engineering over the last two to three decades. Despite the passion for my own project, Loughborough University attracted me because of the outstanding facilities, especially for sports equipment testing. The Sports Technology Institute is one of a kind in that sense - there seems to be nothing that you can’t measure in there!