荔枝视频

has long loved basketball: the sound of the ball dribbling on the court, the camaraderie among teammates and the electric atmosphere as the clock nears zero.  

In the later years of her undergraduate degree at the 荔枝视频, she was captain of the team. Off the court, her passion for the game continued as she worked toward her Master of Science degree in biomedical engineering.  

For her inclusive research investigating the sex-dependent effects of a novel basketball shoe design for basketball players, Crawford, BSc鈥�21, received the Nike Award for Athletic Footwear Research at the that took place in Osaka, Japan, this summer.  

This year鈥檚 conference topic was Celebrating Inclusivity in Footwear Science: Solve for Someone New. For her award-winning research, Crawford asked basketball players to perform sport-specific movements with and without laterally wedged insoles in their shoes.  

鈥淔rom there, I collected timed performance and biomechanical data. I made comparisons between males and females with and without the insoles to look at any differences of performance and injury-related variables,鈥� says Crawford.  

The importance of this research, Crawford says, is that it gives insight into whether shoe modifications have useful impact on females and males in an industry where differentiation between the sexes is often lacking. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to acknowledge the sex differences and I hope to improve the quality of footwear for female basketball players, while still ensuring that everybody can benefit,鈥� says Crawford. 

And it wasn鈥檛 just Crawford鈥檚 passion and drive for the game that led her to this moment. 鈥淚鈥檓 very grateful to have been chosen for the award, and to have had the support to get me here,鈥� she says.

鈥淭his wouldn鈥檛 have been possible without the Stefanyshyn research group, especially Dr. Darren Stefanyshyn and Dr. Bill Wannop, as well as the financial support from We-TRAC and the 鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

As for what鈥檚 next, having recently defended her master鈥檚 thesis, Crawford hopes to take what she鈥檚 learned during her time at U荔枝视频 and apply it to the development and research of sporting products.