Mr Charlie Male

I am the Technical Manager for the Sport and Health Sciences department on St Luke's Campus.

Whilst I support the whole department in my current role, my previous role involved managing the biomechancis laboratories and I continue to offer extended support across teaching and research. I assist dissertation students with collecting and analysing biomechanical data, writing bespoke scripts to calculate and export complex variables that improve efficiency and enable high-quality projects. I have written MATLAB scripts integrated into Vicon Nexus that have modernised biomechanics practical teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, reducing data collection and export time. I also develop models and pipelines in Visual3D and train students and academics to use the software effectively.

With regards to research, I educate practitioners in biomechanical data collection and analysis, developing methods that meet project requirements. I create protocols in Motek D-Flow to manipulate our instrumented treadmill and induce perturbations, paired with visual scenes created in Blender. Alongside motion capture, I support the collection of pressure, IMU and EMG data, writing scripts to calculate bespoke variables. I have developed laboratory spaces by integrating non-standard equipment, rewiring devices to create analogue inputs, and building equipment such as pulley systems and force plate surrounds to provide safe, organised research environments.

From an experimental perspective, I have manufactured a basic IMU to better understand quaternions and electrical engineering, created MATLAB scripts to model pelvic movement and animate motion capture data to assess movement variability, and designed and 3D printed equipment that improves departmental processes and extends research capabilities.

I am competent in Vicon Nexus, Qualisys Track Manager, Visual3D, Blender, OpenSim, Motek D-Flow, MATLAB, Python, Footscan, Delsys Trigno Discover, Spike2, Pedar-X and AMTI NetForce.