WSU associate professor Cynthia Bir and the rest of the Sport Science team won two awards at the 30th Annual Sports Emmys, April 27 in New York City. From left to right, Mo Davoudian, Mickey Stern, Cynthia Bir, John Brenkus, Murray Oden, Mark Kadin and David Leepson.

by Sydney Redigan
Engineering Public Affairs Editor

Sport Science, the popular television series featuring WSU's associate professor of biomedical engineering, Cynthia Bir, won two of the five Sports Emmys it was nominated for Monday, April 27 at Lincoln Center in New York City.

The Sport Science team took home awards for Outstanding Graphic Design and Outstanding New Approaches and was nominated for Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology, Outstanding Technical Team Studio and Outstanding Production Design/Art Design. Sport Science was also nominated last year for four Sports Emmys and won for Outstanding Graphic Design.

The series, which is in its second season, brings together professional sports stars and scientists who explain athletic feats of the highest level. This season will welcome many new athletes into the Sport Science lab, including NFL stars Ray Lewis, Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Vernon Daivs and Tank Johnson; NBA stars Stephon Marbury, Kevin Love, Amare Stoudemire and Luke Walton; and Major League Baseball's Matt Kemp and James Loney of the Los Angeles Dodgers and pitcher Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres.

This season's first episode tested what generates more power - natural adrenaline or an adrenaline shot with Mixed Martial Arts fighter Houston Alexander agreeing to be injected with a dose of epinephrine.

"The shows are appreciated by a lot of different audiences, different age groups and backgrounds," says Bir. "In all the shows we've applied the tools developed in the lab to record, measure and map the speed, force and range of the human body, specifically the athlete. The final product is not only entertaining, but educational."

The show caught the attention of many science teachers last season who used the show as a teaching tool. This year, Wayne State University is providing science teachers with a curriculum based on segments of the show. These can be found at http://www.wayne.edu/sportscience .

Sport Science airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on Fox Sports Network.

 

Bir at the 30th Annual Sports Emmys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Copyright ©2011 College of Engineering, Wayne State University
Wayne State University does not endorse external sites.