Sports Tech Research Podcast

Benjamin Penkert is well known as the host of The SportsTech Allstars Podcast, linked to SportsTechX, the market intelligence company for professionals & investors in sports, which he is running with his co-founder Rohn Malhotra.

Benjamin is the first 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, Benjamin talks about his insights from running SportsTechX and their amazing podcast over the past 4 years. Benjamin and Kristof also talk about the role of research in the different segments of sports tech. Different methods and key criteria for translating research to market are discussed as well. Finally, Benjamin talks about the largest opportunities for Sports Tech & related Research as he is seeing these, and reflects on the role STRN can play within this field. 

Enjoy the episode!

Steven Verstockt is a Professor at Ghent University, where he is leading a multimodal analytics research group.

Steven talks about the kind of methodologies they develop in the lab, relevant for cycling. Next, collaborations with other groups within the university and with external companies are being discussed. Finally, Steven explains how generic building blocks are created from their methodologies, and which critical hurdles they need to overcome with these types of projects. 

Enjoy this episode! 

Johann Windt is the Head of Data Science at the Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club, a Canadian professional soccer team playing in the Major League Soccer (MLS).

First, Johann talks about his background in sports, his academic involvement, and his transition to sports practice. Then, Johann & Kristof talk about how Data Science fits in the organizational structure at Vancouver Whitecaps and how decisions are supported by the Data Science department. The partnerships with other organizations, universities, and departments are also discussed in depth. 

Enjoy this episode! 

Ismael Fernández Cuevas is the Co-Founder of ThermoHuman, an infrared thermography and thermal analytics company for injury prevention in sports science, medicine and physiotherapy.

First of all, Ismael’s internationally-oriented background and PhD. in Sports Science are discussed. Then, Ismael talks about the research of infrared thermography and what it can be used for -  ThermoHuman focuses on prevention, performance, and prediction. Finally, the link with universities, research, SME's and corporates are made as well. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Timothy Brownstone is the CEO and Founder of Kymira, an innovative smart textile company. They work within the Medical, Sport, Military, and Space verticals to enhance performance or injury recovery. 

In this podcast, Timothy talks about his background and the use of infrared technology to stimulate cell growth. The technology behind Kymira and several use cases are also discussed in depth. Finally, Timothy & Kristof talk about the intersection of the sports, health, and the medical domains and how an interdisciplinary approach plays a key role in innovation. Enjoy the conversation! 

In Episode 26, we welcome two guests: Tom Ruth, Vice President Americas at Quuppa, and Miska Kuusisto, Sales & Marketing Executive at Wisehockey. Quuppa has extensive experience in tracking technology, specialized in radiofrequency technologies. Tom is responsible for the business in the Americas and has had previous experience at Nokia and Broadsoft. Wisehockey creates solutions for hockey specifically. They build on core technologies, model games & provide analytics on top of it. 

In this episode, we discuss core tracking technologies for sports, with the Quuppa-Wisehockey partnership as an example. We also talked about data collection & analytics, especially how to automate the whole flow. Finally, we explored the link with research. We hope you enjoy this three-way conversation! 

Episode 25 is with Jan Van Haaren who worked for several years at SciSports, a Dutch football analytics company. Jan has a background in Computer Science and a PhD. in Machine Learning and worked as the Chief Analytics Officer at SciSports. He's been involved in soccer analytics for some time now and SciSports aims at getting the most valuable insights from football matches and training sessions.

In this podcast (recorded before Jan left the company), the different types of football analytics are covered (match sheet data, event data, and tracking data). Furthermore, the analytics discipline and its critical hurdles are discussed in depth. In addition, the ambition of creating actionable insights, and the role of multidisciplinary teams in soccer analytics in general are discussed. Finally, Kristof & Jan talk about the transition from descriptive analytics to predictive & prescriptive analytics. Enjoy this episode! 

Aline Fobe is a Corporate Wellbeing Consultant at Energy Lab. Before this role, Aline was an HR consultant at PwC and an athlete in the national field hockey team of Belgium. Throughout her career, she has collaborated in different teams and has developed a specific interest in high-performing teams.

In this episode, Aline talks about a specific sports technology analytics project that was set up by PwC and the Belgian field hockey team. Furthermore, she talks about the importance of leadership, personal wellbeing, and good communication in & outside of sports. We hope you enjoy this episode!  

Peter Düking is a wearables researcher at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg and a business development consultant at Wearable Technologies. Peter’s interests intersect in the domains of athletes, science, and technology. Peter & Kristof spoke about how wearables can contribute to the improvement of athletes' health and performance, but also talked about regulations & standards within the sports technology industry. As always: we hope you enjoy this one!

Carlos Balsalobre is a Sports Scientist & Researcher at the Autonomous University of Madrid and a developer & entrepreneur in the area of physical performance apps. His main interests are strength training and testing new technologies to measure and improve performance. Carlos & Kristof talk about the path towards becoming a science-driven entrepreneur, the reasons behind it, and the key challenges to tackle along the way. Of course, Carlos also talks about the apps he has developed and the value they provide. Enjoy this inspiring story!