Advanced Human Body Measurement – service development, research execution & publication development.
4-week paid research internship
Sport Engineering Research Group (Dr Simon Choppin – Lead)
Project description:
Body measurement is fundamental to several research fields, including: ergonomics, health, nutrition, sport and fashion. In the Morphology Research Group at the AWRC, we specialise in body measurement and are currently developing an ‘Advanced Human Body Measurement’ service. This service will open the laboratory and our expertise to members of the public, sports clubs and weight loss groups. They will be able to take advantage of advanced body measurement to monitor changes to their body following training regimes or weight loss programmes (for example). Our service gives the ability to track body fat percentage, body size and shape. Due to the advanced information we can capture, we can create detailed reports over time. These reports will not only show changes in body weight and fat percentage, but will include detailed 3D information about where the body has changed in size and shape. This information can be navigated in 3D using computer visualisation, or even printed into a physical representation. We hope that access to more detailed information will help users of the service to maintain motivational drive and make lifestyle interventions more effective in the long-term. As well as, help the research group build a database of body scans that can be used in future research.
We seek a an intern to assist in:
- The development of our service – 7 days
- Recruit participants from the University Staff
- Assist in capturing body measurement data, using our 3D scanner an manual tools
- Help to process the measurement data and develop measurement reports
- Assess satisfaction of participants, gaining feedback on the service
- Research appropriate timings and costings for the service, make enquiries with other companies offering similar services
- Consider the logistics of delivering a service within the AWRC.
- Research into the efficacy of childhood measurement processes – 5 days
- Assist in developing an ethics submission
- Help to pilot and prepare for a data collection involving measurement of children aged 4 – 12 years old
- Assist with the editing of an research publication: “3D surface imaging devices and body composition estimation” – 1 day
- Help to process a large datasets for a research publication: “Assessing the efficacy of shape measurement in the prediction of Type II diabetes risk” – 7 days.
Student outcomes:
- Experience of the development and execution of consultancy research / services
- Teamwork
- Training and practice with anthropometry techniques (including: BodPod and 3D body scanning training)
- Experience of working with a large dataset
- Experience of academic writing
Candidate Profile:
We are looking for candidates that have experience of working with the public and/or research participants. The applicant should be proactive and have experience of working independently. An interest in health and wellbeing research and the area of health assessment is desirable. If you have experience of data processing or working with large datasets this is desirable but not essential. We will cater to the skills, experience and desires of the successful candidate.
Project Location:
Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, Sheffield, UK.
Project team background:
The morphology research group consists of Dr Alice Bullas, Dr Michael Thelwell and Dr Simon Choppin who will all support the student during the placement. We have a dedicated morphology Laboratory at the AWRC in which the intern will be able to work, we will also ensure that at least one member of the group is present every day during the internship for on-going contact and support. We have a laptop and computing resources the intern can work on during the internship and a general office is available at the AWRC that the student will be able to access and use as they wish. There is an operational support team at the AWRC that will induct the intern, giving them access to the building and spaces for use during the internship.
We will co-ordinate weekly update meetings for the whole team so that progress and any problems can be discussed with everyone.
If you wish to discuss this opportunity with us please contact: Dr Simon Choppin (s.choppin@shu.ac.uk)
Apply here . Deadline 5 pm 10th June