Organised by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Ben Stone’s photograph shows the process of carefully fine-tuning the athlete, hand-bike and their interactions.

Taken at The Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport on campus, it also highlights a complex sporting environment. Optimal performance in hand-cycling depends on factors ranging from physical capacity, propulsion technique, skill, training effort and technology.

Ben is supervised by Professor Vicky Tolfrey and Dr Barry Mason and is registered within the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS).

Talking about the photograph, he said:

“It's great to receive such a prestigious award for the novel and innovative work we have been doing at the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport to improve the performance of British handcyclists. The picture portrays the complex handbike-athletes interaction that I have been investigating throughout my PhD; I hope the award will increase the profile of handcycling within the UK.”

The competition attracted a total of 169 entries which were drawn from researchers in receipt of EPSRC funding, which were subsequently grouped into five categories. Ben’s entry finished third in the People and Skills section.

The judging panel consisted of:

Martin Keene – Group Picture Editor, Press Association

Sarah Sharples - EPSRC Board member and Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Nottingham

Hayaatun Sillem – CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering

Kedar Pandya – Associate Director, Business Engagement at the EPSRC

The picture was taken using a Canon 70D camera (Colours inverted), using an 18-135mm kit lens.