The Sport and Rehabilitation Engineering programme (SRE),

a transdisciplinary initiative of the EPFL

The objective is to establish with recognized groups at EPFL a programme which should create new transdisciplinary research constellations over Institutes and Faculty boundaries. The program is designed to inspire and support trend-breaking research efforts and as well to expand teaching and students' learning experience. SRE started with several projects in the different Schools of EPFL . Furthermore, the programme will develop a very important base for nucleating an effort on which additional funding could be attracted from governmental, industrial and interested organisations.

Currently, the SRE organisation structure is composed of a steering committee and a management team including the following members

Prof. Jan-Anders Månson, director
Dr Pierre-Etienne Bourban, co-director and coordinator
Prof. Henry Markram, SV, School of Life Sciences
Prof. Alfio Quarteroni, SB, School of Basic Sciences
Prof. René Salathé, School of Engineering
Prof. Martin Vetterli, I&C, School of Computer and Communication Sciences

The improvement of life quality has always been a major and rewarding objective for engineers and scientists. The addition of a major life science effort to the growing knowledge available in the different engineering domains of EPFL gives a new dimension of opportunities on which common platforms of research can be established. An obvious emerging research theme is to better understand the relations between the human body, its performance and its environment. Thanks to research in life science, quality of life is promoted as acceptable for critically ill persons while development in rehabilitation engineering and injury prevention improve health and fitness for disabled persons as well as for the large mass of people. Furthermore, the seek for extreme performances in sport activity merges several key demands on science and technology.

It is proposed to promote synergy between life sciences and engineering sciences via research in sport and rehabilitation. The improvement of performance, comfort, safety and injury prediction, will impact our life quality. Indeed technology developed for professional sport is in many cases established on the same generic platform as research on support system for disabled persons. Furthermore, by a more efficient measurement and control of body motion and by studying the influence of equipment (sport equipment or prosthesis) and environment on performance or potential injury it would be possible to propose technology for an improved and optimal adequacy between body, environment and performance.

Initially, it is envisaged to nucleate research around the theme 'feel and control' by gathering major efforts of several different faculties and institutes at EPFL.
For example, novel material structures including signal and sensing systems will be proposed for next generations of sport equipment and prosthesis. They would allow to better adapt the stiffness/damping response of an equipment and to offer spectra of properties closer to natural materials and living tissues.

Cognitive assessment, psychophysics, tissue engineering, smart materials/structures, bio-sensors, multi-task control, simulation and imaging are some of the key competences required to develop this platform. Projects of the SRE programme should ensure a research continuum along the chain: brain/body/interfacing/sensors/environment.