Kenji's Blog

Blog for Dr Kenji Takeda at the University of Southampton. Find out about what he's up to in aerodynamics, aircraft noise, flight simulation and Formula One teaching, research and schools outreach. Also see what's going on in the School of Engineering Sciences at the University of Southampton.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Wow!

Well, since Friday's Team Sprint gold medal, Team GB has swept the board in the cycling at the Olympics!
It makes us feel so proud at the University of Southampton to have helped the team achieve this. Everything from low-drag skinsuits, to optimising each cyclists position in the wind tunnel, has boosted both the performance and confidence of these world-beating athletes.
Of course, all of this comes down to solid engineering, so if you want to learn how to do this, or design Formula One cars or America's Cup yachts, why not study engineering.
Team GB's success may well change society, here's to more success in the run-up to London 2012!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Gold in Beijing - courtesy of RJ Mitchell

What's the connection between Team GB and the Spitfire?
RJ Mitchell, well at least his wind tunnel.
Congratulations to Jamie Staff, Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy for becoming Olympic champions in the Team Sprint in Beijing today! They, along with other members of British Cycling, have spent literally hours in the RJ Mitchell wind tunnel in Southampton testing bikes, optimising their aerodynamic performance, and even developing their new low-drag skinsuits.
Read more about it here in our press release, and also in The Independent here.
All this was with help from the Wolfson Unit's world-class engineers. When they're not helping win Olympic medals, they're busy designing America's Cup yachts and lifeboats for the RNLI.
So here's to more Gold medals in Beijing for the cycling team, and the rest of Team GB!