With the aim of strengthening relationships, potential research collaborations and student mobilites, DIGISPORT, the international and interdisciplinary training and research graduate school, was thrilled to host colleagues from the University of Limerick (UL) this week. Present from UL were: Associate Professor of Biomechanics Drew Harrison, who established and co-directed the Sport and Human Research Centre and the Biomechanics Research Unit, as well as Dr. Evan Crotty, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Biomechanics.
On Tuesday, May 2nd, they were able to start the week by holding a research seminar on the topic of false start detection in athletics for the students enrolled in the DIGISPORT "Digital Sport Sciences" master's degree program, as well as students from the Training and Optimization of Sports performance (EOPS) master's degree program (Faculty of Sports Sciences and Physical Activity). They were also joined by Matthieu Milloz, Temporary Teaching and Research Assistant at the École normale supérieure de Rennes (ENS Rennes) and who is also a PhD student in Sport Biomechanics at the University of Limerick.
Pr. Harrison’s presentation focused on the development of the FASST interdisciplinary research project dedicated to improving the detection of false starts in athletics in order to guarantee equity among sprinters during competitions. Dr. Evan Crotty’s presentation focused on the specificities of electromechanical delay in sprinters. His research work aims at achieving a better understanding of the neurophysiological limitations in reaction time in athletics regarding false starts. Matthieu Milloz’s presentation focused on the different steps that have been undertaken to develop and validate a reaction time detection system prototype in order to more precisely detect false starts in athletics. A video replay of this research seminar is available at the bottom of this page and on the DIGISPORT YouTube channel.
On Wednesday, the guests attended a welcome reception provided by members of the Rennes 2 International Relations Office as well as the whole DIGISPORT team. They were also given a tour of the Villejean Campus, the Robert Poirier Stadium (a preparation center for the 2024 Paris Olympics Games) and the DIGISPORT facilities.
On Thursday, the team attended a workshop with the Mecatronics Department of ENS Rennes and the biomechanical team from the M2S laboratory, before participating in a working group on sport performance and digital sciences. They then finished the end of a busy week with a visit to downtown Rennes and the Mont Saint-Michel.
Watch the video of the seminar below.
