MSc Sports Technology
The master's programme in Sports Technology is an interdisciplinary collaboration between KTH and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), Sweden's two leading actors in their respective fields of science. The programme provides a unique understanding of the areas of sports science and engineering. Graduates gain the skills to develop new technologies for measuring sports performance and advanced healthcare.
Sports Technology at KTH
The two-year master's programme in Sports Technology provides interdisciplinary expertise in sports science and engineering. Throughout your studies, you will acquire the knowledge to ask the right questions and tools to finding the most exciting answers regarding measurement, simulation, and analysis of sports performance, health and medical care.
Technically, Sports Technology focuses on measurement, simulation, and analysis of motion and performance. The programme consists of traditional engineering courses in electrical engineering, computer science and biomechanics to deliver technical skills. The programme also includes courses focusing on entrepreneurship, innovation, and design. This skillset is then complemented by a course in sport and exercise physiology at GIH (The Swedish School of Sport and Health Science). The programme's interdisciplinary nature will give you the skills to understand and cooperate with people of different backgrounds and readily handle social, economic and environmental challenges.
Sports Technology involves choosing from an extensive selection of available courses followed by a degree project. Through project work, you will develop the ability to formulate objectives and questions, seek scientific literature and present your work verbally and in writing. The projects are often done in close collaboration with research and companies within the field.
Upon completion of the programme, the student can influence and conduct improvement and development work in sports technology. The labour market primarily consists of small enterprises, specialised in specific products, and the expanding field also offers good possibilities to start one's own business. The education also provides a good foundation for research studies in the field of technology and health.
This is a two-year programme (120 ECTS credits) given in English. Graduates are awarded the degree of Master of Science. The programme is given at KTH Campus and KTH Flemingsberg in Stockholm by the School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health (at KTH).
Students
Find out what our student from the programme thinks about his time at KTH.
Career
The labour market and society need engineers who can measure, simulate and analyse human movements. Such knowledge gives the prerequisites for creating a sustainable society where everyone can live a healthy and valuable life regardless of age and with different physical and mental conditions. Engineers with these skills are needed in several social sectors in sports, health care, rehabilitation and in several different types of technology companies.
The number of technology companies with clear sports profiles is expanding significantly. Some of the most famous companies are Suunto, Precor, Sports Tracker, Garmin, Silva, Adidas and Nike. Wearables in the form of sport watches, activity meters, cameras, and so on, are a clear product range in which engineers from our master's programme provide the necessary knowledge.
In Sweden, a growing array of companies operate in this area. For example, Racefox makes sports analytics apps for skiers and runners, Exxcentric develops novel flywheel training technology, Qinematic develops video analysis of human motor skills, and Challengize uses performance measurements to create challenges to inspire and motivate a healthier everyday life.
The skillset of graduates from the programme is also attractive in many other contexts. Alternative career paths after graduation include work in ergonomics, design of disability aid, public health, healthcare, computer games industry, VR/AR and vehicle safety.
Sustainable development
Graduates from KTH have the knowledge and tools for moving society in a more sustainable direction, as sustainable development is an integral part of all programmes. The three key sustainable development goals addressed by the master's programme in Sports Technology are:
The goal of the programme is to measure, simulate and analyse human movement outside a laboratory, which is necessary to provide health, well-being and medical care solutions outside the hospital. It is also as crucial in ergonomics to detect hazards in the working environment.
Faculty and research
Our research within sports technology aims at helping athletes to:
- Measure their performance in an accurate and objective way. This requires more comprehensive technology than just a stopwatch or a tape measure. This may, for example, involve measuring the force exerted by a kayaker in a paddle stroke or the mechanical energy consumed by an athlete during a run.
- Calculate optimal performance. In every sport, there are many accepted truths about how different movements should be performed. Our task is to defy or confirm these truths through physical and mathematical models, helping athletes optimize technique.
- Perceive their performance in real-time. This is done through so-called "augmented feedback"; a runner can, for example, receive audio information describing how the running stride looks and get tips on how to improve it.
