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  • BOA in Partnership Deal with Engineering Technology Board
Press Releases

BOA in Partnership Deal with Engineering Technology Board

Olympics - 26 Nov 2003
   
Olympic triple jump Gold medallist and world record holder, Jonathan Edwards, today launches a unique partnership deal between the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the Engineering Technology Board (etb).

The new partnership will highlight the critical role that science, engineering and technology play in the BOA's assistance to athletes' participation, and success, in the world's greatest sports event. This ranges from the design of the latest composite carbon-fibre racing bikes, the assessment of swimmers' stroke velocity and monitoring of extreme physical performance.

Today's announcement marks the start of the 'Engineering in the Olympics' campaign. This year-long campaign is designed to inspire more young people to pursue careers and education in science, engineering and technology by showcasing cutting edge work, including stadia design, that contributes to the Olympic experience. The etb plans to do this through a series of regional road shows, public debates, competitions and a schools lecture tour during 2004.

Two pieces of British cutting edge technology being displayed today, that are helping the BOA prepare GB's athletes for Olympic success, are the ModelMaker X70 scanner from The University of Sheffield and a new track bike reputed to be the best in the world that has already won two World Championship Gold medals. The team from Sheffield is currently working with the GB Olympic Cycling team to scan and analyse the drag properties of their high-tech sporting equipment which could mean the difference between GB athletes winning Gold or Silver in Athens.

As the organisation responsible for promoting science, engineering and technology in the UK, the etb is the first body of its kind to be recognised as an official partner of the BOA. Their partnership will contribute to the British Olympic squad's bid for success in Athens, Bryan Steel being one of many hopefuls.

Alan Clark, Chief Executive of the Engineering and Technology Board, said:

'It is critical to Britain's future as a manufacturing and wealth creating nation that more young people pursue careers in science, engineering and technology.

For example British science and engineering professionals are providing what could be the difference between Gold and Silver medals for the GB Cycling team with the 'Athen's Bike'. The etb's 'Engineering in the Olympics' campaign aims to encourage and inspire a new generation of engineers by championing the innovative and dynamic opportunities that this sector can offer'.

Simon Clegg, CEO of the British Olympic Association, said that science and technology is playing an increasingly important part in achieving Olympic performance:

'Engineering technology can assist a number of our Olympians as they prepare for the world's greatest sporting event. This partnership between the etb and the BOA will give British athletes a performance boost in the most important year of their lives.'

Jonathan Edwards, a physics graduate from Durham University and a member of the BOA's National Olympic Committee, said:

'From track design, to triple jump spikes, to the latest medical diagnostic testing, science is helping athletes push the boundaries of what's possible. Taking advantage of the latest technology is all part of the search for the extra millimetre, or split second that can make the difference between Gold and Silver, or separate victory from defeat.'

FACT SHEET

The Olympic Games is now a multi billion pound industry, which has played a crucial role in the regeneration of cities and the stimulation of national economies:

The investment needed to stage the 2004 Athens Olympics is expected to exceed £3.4 billion. This includes £2.1 billion of Government investment - largely directed towards infrastructure and new sports facilities.

The British Government believes that staging the Olympic Games in London in 2012 would involve expenditure of £2.4 billion, and involve one of the largest urban regeneration projects ever undertaken in the UK.

In preparation for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, £1.36 billion was spent on venues and infrastructure. With more than 60% of the money coming from public funds.

The Olympic Games already present significant opportunities for the science, engineering and technology sectors in the UK:

The British engineers WS Atkins are project managers for the Olympic Village in Athens, building 2,300 homes in a £178 million project.

Sport Concepts, a UK architectural practice, is leading a team of designers in the construction of the 8,000 seat Handball and Taekwondo arena for the Athens Olympic Games.

Connell Mott MacDonald, the British design engineers, were responsible for the design of the infrastructure of the Olympic village for the Sydney Olympics in 2000

Balfour Beatty, one of the UK's leading construction firms, built the 85,000 seat Olympic stadium for the Atlanta Olympics Games of 1996.

An aspiration of the campaign is to help reverse the dramatic decline in young people to studying science, engineering and technology, by demonstrating how exciting careers in these disciplines can be:

The percentage of undergraduates taking engineering degrees has halved since 1991. Back then one in nine undergrad.s took engineering. Now it's one in eighteen. (source: the etb)

Since 1990 the number of youngsters taking maths has fallen by 30%. The number taking physics is down 30% and the number taking chemistry has fallen by 20%. (source: the etb)

46% of all current teaching vacancies are in maths, science and technology. (source: the etb)

Advanced Composite Group - composite carbon-fibre racing bikes:

Like many of the world's leading track bikes, the new machine features a composite carbon-fibre construction. Design work began in back in December 2001 and the first frame was delivered in June 2002 and the bike has been evolving ever since.

The project has been jointly funded by the GB Cycling Team's own lottery funding and as part of the UK Sports Institute's Technology and Innovation strategy. The development programme behind the design has been project managed by the GB Team's Performance Director Peter Keen, with the design work carried out by Dimitris KatSanis of the Derbyshire-based firm ACG (Advanced Composites Group).

ACG have outstanding expertise in composite construction and are involved in the production and development of aerospace and motor-sport components for a range of clients. Dimitris has many years of frame building experience and also happens to be a UCI commissaire, helping to ensure that one of the key design criteria - that the frame should comply with both the spirit and the letter of UCI regulations - has been met.

For further information call Anthony Scammell on 07714 340 525.
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