LUMEN Summer 2020 - Flipbook - Page 21
Engineering
for Olympic
success
The researchers and
students behind the
cycling gear giving
Aussie athletes
the edge.
STORY BY
DALICE KENNEDY
F
rom developing the
Olympic flame to bike parts
and helmets, Associate
Professor Richard Kelso has
been instrumental in bringing the
University of Adelaide to the world
stage, in not just one, but five
Olympic Games. And our students
are coming along for the ride.
When the postponed Tokyo Olympic
Games go ahead, and the Australian
Cycling Team takes to the tracks,
Richard, PhD Candidate Shaun
Fitzgerald, and a host of alumni will
be watching on with keen interest.
“I think one of the best parts is that
we're involving students. It’s one of
the biggest payoffs,” Richard said.
Richard and his team played a key
role in the final bike developed for
Australia's 2020 Olympic cycling
team. Working closely with Cycling
Australia and bicycle manufacturer
Argon 18, the University engineers
helped design the 2020 frame, and
selected the wheels and shoes, all
of which required testing in the
University's wind tunnel.
The Aussie cycling team will also be
using the crankset and wearing the
Kask Mistral helmet Richard and his
team helped to develop for the 2016
Rio Olympics.
This is quite an evolution from
2008 when the Sports Engineering
Degree at the University was born.
As the interim Sports Engineering
Program Coordinator at the time,
one of Richard’s first projects was
to pursue and initiate collaborations
between the University and sporting
organisations.
“The sports where I really wanted to
be involved were cycling, rowing and
swimming,” he said.
It was Richard’s first phone call to
the velodrome (Cycling Australia)
which sparked a relationship that
has placed the University at the
forefront of aerodynamics in sports
engineering globally.
“I started working with them
[Cycling Australia] testing handlebars
and various things. They quite liked
what we could do, and we decided to
design a helmet together.
“I suddenly realised all my
Christmases had come at once.”
It was during the Tour Down Under
in 2012 that a new partnership
between the University and SCOTT
Sports was formed.
“We did some testing comparing
their new helmet with a few others,
and they were happy with the
results,” Richard said.
The relationship blossomed, and in
2014 they gave Richard the enviable
opportunity of producing a helmet
that would compete with the best on
the market.
“They gave me a clean sheet of
paper to design another helmet. They
said roughly what they wanted and
I set about coming up with a new
design and trying to beat the best.”
In 2016 the SCOTT Cadence PLUS
helmet was launched.
“My favourite victory [for the
SCOTT Cadence PLUS helmet]
is the Women’s World Road
Championship in 2019, where
Annemiek van Vleuten won by more
than two minutes,”
Richard said.
The helmet is also worn by Alistair
and Jonathan Brownlee, British
triathletes who won gold and silver at
the Rio Olympics; and Nino Schurter
(Switzerland) and Jenny Rissveds
(Sweden), both of whom are world
champions and won gold at the Rio
2016 Olympics in cross-country
mountain bike riding.
Today, despite his designs
contributing to world records, world
championships, world cup and
Olympic medal wins in cycling,
Richard remains humble and is quick
to ensure all athletes’ successes are
recognised as their victories.
“Ultimately it's up to the athlete. The
way I feel is that we want to bring the
athletes onto a level playing field,”
he said.
But before bikes, helmets and wind
tunnels, there was the Sydney
Olympic Games, which gave Richard
his first taste of seeing his work
feature on the world stage.
ALUMNI MAGAZINE - SUMMER 2020
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