Engineering genius

Propelling Peters to Paralympics podium

Improvements involved 3D scanning and printing, machining and fabrication

University of Canterbury (UC) engineers are behind a ground-breaking aerodynamic design on the sit ski Paralympic medallist Corey Peters used at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in March. Snow Sports NZ approached UC in late 2020, and High Performance Sport New Zealand funded the project. Mechanical Engineering Lecturer Dr Natalia Kabaliuk and three students spent a year improving the aerodynamic design of Peters’ standard, off-the-shelf sit ski. Natalia says: “We’d had great feedback from Corey before the event began, but to see him win medals on the sit ski that we helped design has been incredibly satisfying. I really feel like our work gave him confidence in his gear and just a little bit of extra speed on the slopes that could have been his winning edge.”

Corey Peters told EG that knowing the work led to significant aerodynamic improvements of his sit ski “allowed me to go into Beijing with a massive increase in my confidence, knowing that my equipment was superior to my competition”. He says: “In a sport that is often separated by fractions of a second, any advantage you can get or have over your competition is huge.” With a baby due in July, Corey's next focus is fatherhood, which he expects might be as challenging as skiing downhill at 100kph.

Seat redesigned from a rounded bucket to incorporate a Kamm tail to further minimise aerodynamic drag

Leg cover streamlined to minimise aerodynamic drag (with help from Dynamic Composites) Leg cover and Kamm tail features made from carbon fibre composite material

Sit ski features a seat and suspension system mounted on to a single ski

Redesign included managing the high pressures over the leg cover and the low pressure wake Side-wind conditions and yaw angle effects on the sit ski aerodynamics considered Wind-tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics measured how modified designs reduced drag force Improvements led to a maximum of 10 percent “drag force reduction” in the modified sit ski