Canterbury engineers create world-leading design for Kiwi Paralympic skier
A Kiwi Paralympic athlete has been given extra speed on the slopes after University of Canterbury (UC) engineers crafted a ground-breaking new aerodynamic design for his sit ski.
The University of Canterbury team that redesigned the sit ski included from left: Tessa Impey, Dr Natalia Kabaliuk, Mathew Henderson, David Fanner, David Read and Emma Bradley-Hudson. (UC technicians Tony Doyle and Zac Perston also contributed but are not photographed).
Photo credit: Corey Blackburn, University of Canterbury
Sit skis feature a seat and suspension system mounted to a single ski. Peters, from Taranaki, took up sit skiing in 2011 after he suffered a spinal injury in a 2009 motocross accident. He won a bronze medal in the Downhill event at the 2018 Paralympic Games.
The project was funded by High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ), with University of Canterbury Mechanical Engineering Lecturer Dr Natalia Kabaliuk, along with three students under her supervision, spending about a year improving the aerodynamic design of Peters’ standard, off-the-shelf sit ski.
Mechanical engineering students Matthew Henderson and Ekaterina Lieshout worked on redesigning the leg cover of the sit ski with the help of a local composite manufacturer, Dynamic Composites, while Master of Engineering student Tessa Impey redesigned the seat to incorporate a Kamm tail – an innovative rear design feature to minimise aerodynamic drag.
Several UC Engineering technicians were involved with 3D scanning and printing, machining, fabrication and wind tunnel operation for the project which was co-supervised by UC Engineering Professor Mark Jermy. Freelance designer Daniel Barry helped with the composite industry design specifics and the Computer Aided Design modelling.