Summer School / Winter School

ISEA’s Summer and Winter Schools are project based learning experiences for international students.

Typically such Summer and Winter Schools are composed of five days, during which students from all over the world come together to cooperate in small projects related to sports engineering topics. During those days of intense teaching, testing and analysis activities, students get the possibility to work under the guidance of renowned university professors and industry experts in the field of sports engineering.

The format of the event is a combination of theoretical lectures, technical sessions, seminars on the application of sensors, data treatment etc., read by professors active in the field of sports engineering, presentations and lectures of industry representatives and, most importantly, the hands-on conduction of pilot research projects in field sessions of data collection. The support of tutors and the presence of industry representatives allows the students to grow in the knowledge of engineering in winter/summer sports and to build and reinforce friendly collaborations, thereby fostering the students’ personal and professional experience. Winter Schools typically focus on topics, such as performance, safety, biomechanics, instrumentations and equipment in winter sports, providing students with the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and expertise on ski, snowboard, cross country ski and others.

The experience is typically oriented to students in their final year of a masters or first year of a PhD program, when the basic knowledge of engineering quantities and instrumentations is well established. Sports/mechanical/material/aerospace engineering and bioengineering are all fields of engineering from which participation is very welcome.

So far, Summer Schools have focused mainly on sports like running, cycling, indoor and outdoor athletics and personal protective equipment. However, depending on the facilities of the host location these lists of example sports are very adaptive.

In the past years, a total number of about 200 students have already participated in an ISEA Summer or Winter School. Here is a list of examples, when and where previous ISEA Summer and Winter Schools took place:

For more information and a detailed experience report, you can read the following paper by Petrone et al., which was presented at the 2016 ISEA Conference: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705816307299.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on organising Summer and Winter Schools. However, the ISEA is committed to reinstate these great collaborative experiences and hope to be able to welcome students again soon! Please stay tuned via our website and social media channels!

Previous winter/summer schools have been held since 2009:

  • ISEA Winter School 2016 and 2018, Åre – Sweden
  • ISEA Winter School 2011-2015, San Vito – Cortina, Italy
  • ISEA Summer School 2009, Chemnitz- Germany