Sports Tech Research Podcast Sports Tech Research Network

With a background at Chelsea Football Club and Loughborough University London, Ben now leads the international business development at Breakaway Data. A US company that puts ‘elite data in the hands of elite athletes’.

Kristof and Ben talk about the benefits of putting the athlete at the center of digital product development, the importance of stakeholder management in implementing such tool(s) and the opportunities for applied research this creates.

Athlete data ownership, privacy, and practical use. And of course: AI. That’s what this conversation is all about. Enjoy listening!

Jessica Zendler is a Sports & Fitness Tech and Biomechanics consultant at Rimkus, a worldwide leader in engineering and technical consulting.

Jessica is leading the sports division of the company, after being an independent consultant, startup CTO and academic PhD researcher. She’s also part of the Special Interest Group behind the STRN's Quality Framework for Sports Technologies, which has been published earlier.

Kristof & Jessica talked about the key differences between industry and academia when it comes to innovation. They also share some advice on how to transition from academia to industry, and the importance of having an open mindset when it comes to setting up collaborations.

But it doesn’t end there. Just give it a listen!

Marcus Schmidt is a researcher at TU Dortmund (Germany) with a special focus on the use of portable mobile sensors for biomechanical and training-scientific performance diagnostics as well as for preventive diagnostics in highly dynamic sports. This time, Kristof had a chat with him and his ‘Sensing Motion Science’ podcast partner Sebastian Wille who has his own consultancy firm which is acting as a development service provider. He and his team offer support in the development of embedded hardware and software solutions.

With Marcus understanding the needs from the industry and Sebastian - coming from research but now being more active outside of academic environments – understanding the needs of scientists, the conversation went mainly into the direction of sharing some practical examples, tips & tricks (on e.g. on attracting funding) and a few ideas for future initiatives related to collaborative efforts in the sports science and engineering field.

Torstein Dalen-Lorentsen is the Research Manager, Health and Performance Technology at SINTEF Digital in Oslo (Norway). Having a background in sports practice, science and technology R&D, he’s bringing very relevant insights to the table when it comes to the current and future state of our field. Kristof and Torstein talked about things as:


The type of innovative solutions they are working on
The challenges and opportunities in managing innovation processes
The relationship between the sports, health and medical domains in general and prevention in particular

We hope you enjoy this one!

Karl Etzel is the VP of the Human Performance Lab at Exos (San Francisco, USA) which conducts research on products, programs, and services in the areas of human performance, health and fitness, and corporate wellness. Kristof & Karl discuss the role of the lab within the ecosystem, how to optimally manage it, and how it creates value for its clients, partners and the broader society. Also, find out Karl’s opinion about a gentleman called admiral Hyman G. Rickover!

After staying away for some time, we're 'back on air' with some new episodes of the Sports Tech Research Podcast. Kristof continues where he left it in 2022 and re-started recordings with some of the most inspiring people in the sports science, tech & innovation area.

Olli Tikkanen is the host of the Physical Activity Researcher podcast, where he speaks to experts in physical activity, exercise, and health to find out about the latest research findings. Besides that, he is the co-founder of Fibion, which offers a physical activity analysis product targeted to health & fitness professionals.

Olli is the 4th guest in our 2nd series of episodes, during which we interview other podcast hosts in the sports science, tech, and innovation area, in order to get their insights on the sports tech industry & the role of research and innovation within it.

In this episode, Olli & Kristof first talk about which research is still missing. Then, Olli talks about the difficulties of creating a business, something that many researchers often underestimate. He continues to talk about the importance of having some start-up experience in order to have realistic expectations and he also stresses the importance of informal meetups. Next, Olli & Kristof talk about ways to combine research & industry to come up with the right solutions. Finally, the implementation and adoption side of tech are discussed as well. Olli makes clear how important it is to understand the customer well and to know how the technology will work precisely in the client’s daily work or life.

Enjoy this episode!

P.S.: We spoke with Olli Tikkanen before about Fibion, on our Sports Tech Research blog.