Marcus Dunn

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Dr. Marcus Dunn BSc (hons), MSc, PhD

Senior Research Fellow

Summary

Dr Marcus Dunn is a Senior Research Fellow specialising in the development of applied measurement systems to advance human movement assessment in representative and real-world settings.

Marcus works with international sports governing bodies, international sports companies, and healthcare specialists, to create bespoke measurement and feedback solutions.

His research addresses human movement and impact dynamics, to advance understanding of injury, performance, and rehabilitation.

Finally, Marcus developed three applied measurement science modules for BSc Sport and Exercise Technology (level six lead), leads the MSc Sports Engineering module ‘Applied Measurement in Sports Engineering’, and supervises four PhD students.

Marcus Dunn

About

Dr Marcus Dunn is a Senior Research Fellow in the Sports Engineering Research Group. His research focuses on the development of applied measurement systems to advance human movement assessment in representative and real-world settings.

Marcus’ PhD research was sponsored by the International Tennis Federation, and developed a markerless (non-invasive), single camera system to automatically measure player movement and step parameters during elite, match-play tennis.

Marcus’ current research addresses applied measurement solutions for international sports governing bodies, elite sports, sports infrastructure companies and test laboratories, sportswear companies and local NHS Health Trusts. The industry-focussed nature of his research has aided the development of research partnerships and informed real-world change in international football.

Recently, Marcus’ research has addressed biomechanical analysis for field- and clinic-based applications using consumer technologies. In 2018, he was identified as a future academic leader conducting commercialisable research and awarded a limited place – funded by Innovate UK – on the Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research programme.

Marcus leads the ‘applied measurement’ programme within the Academy of Sport and Physical Activity. He leads the MSc Sports Engineering module ‘Applied Measurement in Sports Engineering’ and developed three applied measurement science modules for BSc Sport and Exercise Technology (levels four, five and six).

Marcus has supervised two PhD students to completion, he currently supervises four PhD students (UK and Australian institutions) and has examined three PhD students (internally and externally). Externally, Marcus is an advisor to the University of Bath's CAMERA 2.0 project and to the British Association for Sustainable Sport, and is the Lead Guest Editor for the Topical Collection on Football Research, published in the Sports Engineering journal.

Teaching

College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences

  • Relationship between football design and heading impacts in football (student project supported by FIFA)
  • Application of field-based video analysis tool to monitor running (student project supported by GRACEfull Running)

  • MSc Sports Engineering
  • BSc Sport and Exercise Technology

  • Applied Measurement in Sports Engineering (Level 7 - MSc Sports Engineering)
  • Advanced and Field-based Measurement for Sport and Exercise (Level 6 - BSc Sport and Exercise Technology)

Research

  • New Balance : New York 5th Avenue Mile analysis. Running performance analysis using broadcast footage.
  • Digital Innovation for Growth (DFiG) : Digital Run Coach. Video-based software tool to analyse running style in the field.
  • Fédération Internationale de Football VOL. Validation of high-speed camera technology to assess virtual offside line accuracy in football.
  • Adidas : FIT. Football player performance and perception of custom-made (shape) football boots.
  • Adidas : Boot traction. Football player performance and perception of custom boot stud configurations.
  • Babolat : Tennis swing analysis. Three-dimensional tennis stroke analysis to inform racket development.

Digital Innovation for Growth (DFiG) : Digital Run Coach

  1. Paper : https://shura.shu.ac.uk/26471/
  2. TV programme : https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000r7bb

  • Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
  • Adidas
  • Babolat
  • New Balance

Publications

Journal articles

Busuttil, N.A., Roberts, A.H., Dunn, M., Connolly, M., & Middleton, K.J. (2023). The use of physically constraining tools for grip-specific skill development in racket, stick and club sports: A scoping review. Journal of sports sciences, 41 (8), 788-795. http://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2023.2240176

Billingham, J., & Dunn, M. (2023). Topical collection on football research. Sports Engineering, 26. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12283-023-00428-2

Dunn, M., Kennerley, A., Murrell-Smith, Z., Webster, K., Middleton, K., & Wheat, J. (2023). Application of video frame interpolation to markerless, single-camera gait analysis. Sports Engineering, 26 (1). http://doi.org/10.1007/s12283-023-00419-3

Mills, K.L., Billingham, J., Choppin, S., Dunn, M., Senior, T., & Goodwill, S. (2022). Repeatability of a piezoelectric force platform to measure impact metrics for a single model of football. Sports Engineering, 25 (1). http://doi.org/10.1007/s12283-022-00389-y

Chiu, C.-.Y., Dunn, M., Heller, B., Churchill, S., & Maden-Wilkinson, T. (2022). Modification and refinement of three-dimensional reconstruction to estimate body volume from a simulated single-camera image. Obesity Science and Practice. http://doi.org/10.1002/osp4.627

Royle, A., Heller, B., & Dunn, M. (2021). Do children and adolescents with cerebral palsy walk with reduced dynamic stability compared to their typically developing peers? A systematic review. APCP Journal, 12 (2), 14-32. https://apcp.csp.org.uk/journals

Rowley, L.J., Churchill, S.M., Dunn, M., & Wheat, J. (2021). Effect of hurdling step strategy on the kinematics of the hurdle clearance technique. Sports Biomech. http://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2021.1970214

Anderson, E., Stone, J., Dunn, M., & Heller, B. (2021). Coach Approaches to Practice Design in Performance Tennis. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching. http://doi.org/10.1177/17479541211027294

Rowley, L.J., Churchill, S.M., Dunn, M., & Wheat, J. (2021). Effect of hurdling step strategy on the kinematics of the block start. Sports Biomechanics. http://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2021.1896028

Dunn, M., Chiu, C.-.Y., Kelley, J., & Haake, S. (2020). Technologies to Aid Public Understanding in Running Performance. Proceedings, 49 (1), e26. http://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2020049026

Dunn, M., Davies, D., & Hart, J. (2020). Effect of Football Size and Mass in Youth Football Head Impacts. Proceedings, 49 (1), e29. http://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2020049029

Chiu, C.-.Y., Pease, D.L., Fawkner, S., Dunn, M., & Sanders, R.H. (2018). Comparison of automated post-processing techniques for measurement of body surface area from 3D photonic scans. Computer methods in biomechanics and biomedical engineering, 7 (2), 227-234. http://doi.org/10.1080/21681163.2018.1492971

Dunn, M., Claxton, D., Fletcher, G., Wheat, J., & Binney, D. (2018). Effects of running retraining on biomechanical factors associated with lower limb injury. Human Movement Science, 58, 21-31. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2018.01.001

Driscoll, H., Hudson, C., Dunn, M., & Kelley, J. (2018). Image based stroke-rate detection system for swim race analysis. Proceedings, 2 (6), 286-292. http://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2060286

Dunn, M., Hart, J., & James, D. (2018). Wearing electronic performance and tracking system devices in Association Football: Potential injury scenarios and associated impact energies. Proceedings, 2 (6), 232-237. http://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2060232

Dunn, M., Pavan, D., Ramirez, P., Rava, S., & Atiqah, S. (2018). An automated method to extract three-dimensional position data using an infrared time-of-flight camera. Proceedings, 2 (6), 502-207. http://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2060502

Oudshoorn, B., Driscoll, H., Dunn, M., Senior, T., & James, D. (2017). Development of a test method for assessing laceration injury risk of individual cleats during game-relevant loading conditions. Footwear Science, 10 (1), 1-10. http://doi.org/10.1080/19424280.2017.1403969

Oudshoorn, B., Driscoll, H., Kilner, K., Dunn, M., & James, D. (2017). Prevalence of laceration injuries in professional and amateur rugby union: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 3 (1), e000239. http://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2017-000239

Oudshoorm, B.Y., Driscoll, H.F., Dunn, M., & James, D. (2017). Identifying representative test parameters to assess skin laceration injury risk for individual studs. Footwear Science, 9 (sup1), S29-S31. http://doi.org/10.1080/19424280.2017.1313904

Oudshoorn, B., Driscoll, H., Dunn, M., & James, D. (2017). Kinetic and kinematic analysis of stamping impacts during simulated rucking in rugby union. Journal of Sports Sciences, 36 (8), 914-919. http://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2017.1346273

Dunn, M., Goodwill, S., Wheat, J., & Haake, S. (2011). Assessing tennis player interactions with tennis courts. Portuguese Journal of Sport Sciences, 11 (Supp.2), 859-862.

Conference papers

Busuttil, N., Alexandra, R., Dunn, M., & Middleton, K. (2023). The acute effects of a grip-constraint tool on upper body and racket kinematics during tennis forehands. The ISBS Proceedings Archive, 41 (1). https://commons.nmu.edu/isbs/vol41/iss1/16/

Dunn, M., Kennerley, A., Webster, K., Middleton, K., & Wheat, J. (2022). Application of Video Interpolation to Markerless Movement Analysis. In Allen, T., Espinosa, H., & Shade, S. (Eds.) Engineering of Sport 14, ISEA 2022, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 6 June 2022 - 10 June 2022. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/resec-isea/2022/session07/3

Mills, K., Billingham, J., Choppin, S., Goodwill, S., & Dunn, M. (2022). Constant Parameter Visco-elastic Model of a Normal Incidence Football Impact. In Allen, T., Espinosa, H., & Shade, S. (Eds.) Engineering of Sport 14, ISEA 2022, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 6 June 2022 - 10 June 2022. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/resec-isea/2022/session04/6

Busuttil, N., Dunn, M., Hale, J., Roberts, A., & Middleton, K. (2022). Effect of modular sports flooring on static and dynamic friction of common sport shoes. In Allen, T., Espinosa, H., & Shade, S. (Eds.) Engineering of Sport 14, ISEA, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 6 June 2022 - 10 June 2022. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/resec-isea/2022/posters/20/

Busuttil, N., Roberts, A., Dunn, M., & Middleton, K. (2021). Perspectives and practices of accredited tennis coaches when developing stroke technique. In Biomechanics in Sports, (pp. 17-20). International Society of Biomechanics in Sport: https://commons.nmu.edu/isbs/vol39/iss1/6/

Chiu, C.Y., Thelwell, M., Goodwill, S., & Dunn, M. (2020). Accuracy of Anthropometric Measurements by a Video-Based 3D Modelling Technique. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43195-2_29

Anderson, E., Stone, J., Dunn, M., Shafizadeh, M., & Heller, B. (2019). Evaluating representative design in tennis practice tasks. In 3rd Scientific Conference on Motor Skill Acquisition.

d'Andrea, F., Heller, B., James, D., Koerger, H., & Dunn, M. (2019). Ground reaction force estimation in football using inertial measurement units during alternate lateral bounding. Footwear Science, 11 (sup1), S77-S78. http://doi.org/10.1080/19424280.2019.1606087

Anderson, E., Stone, J., Shafizadeh, M., Dunn, M., & Heller, B. (2018). Representative Movement Behaviour Measurement in Sport: Gold Standard Measurement versus Gold Standard Data. In Measuring Behavior Conference.

Foster, L., Heller, B., Williams, A., Dunn, M., Curtis, D., & Goodwill, S. (2016). Development of smart inner city recreational facilities to encourage active living. In Garcia, C.R., Caballero-Gil, P., Burmester, M., & Quesada-Arencibia, A. (Eds.) Ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence : 10th International Conference, UCAmI 2016, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, Spain, November 29 – December 2, 2016, (pp. 458-468). Springer: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48799-1_50

Oudshoorn, B., Driscoll, H.F., Dunn, M., & James, D. (2016). Causation events of stud laceration injuries in rugby union. Procedia Engineering, 147, 496-500. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2016.06.227

Oudshoorn, B., Driscoll, H.F., Dunn, M., & James, D. (2016). Pressure sensor calibration for measuring stud-player impacts. Procedia Engineering, 147, 688-693. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2016.06.273

Dunn, M., & Kelley, J. (2015). Non-invasive, spatio-temporal gait analysis for sprint running using a single camera. Procedia Engineering, 112, 528-533. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.07.237

Dunn, M., Haake, S., Wheat, J., & Goodwill, S. (2014). Validation of a single camera, spatio-temporal gait analysis system. Procedia Engineering, 72, 243-248. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2014.06.043

Dunn, M., Wheat, J., Miller, S., Haake, S., & Goodwill, S. (2012). Reconstructing 2D planar coordinates using linear and nonlinear techniques. In 30th Annual Conference of Biomechanics in Sports, Melbourne Australia, 2 July 2012 - 6 July 2012. https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/cpa/article/view/5310

Book chapters

Allen, T., Dixon, S., Dunn, M., & Knudson, D. (2018). Tennis Equipment and Technique Interactions on Risk of Overuse Injuries. In Di Giacomo, G., Ellenbecker, T., & Kibler, W. (Eds.) Tennis Medicine: A Complete Guide to Evaluation, Treatment, and Rehabilitation. (pp. 61-79). Springer: https://www.springer.com/gb/book/9783319714974

Theses / Dissertations

Rowley, L.J. (2023). Effects of approach step strategy on kinematics of sprint hurdling. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Churchill, S., Wheat, J., & Dunn, M. http://doi.org/10.7190/shu-thesis-00580

d'Andrea, F. (2021). Ground reaction force estimation to assess football player movement on hybrid turfs. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Dunn, M., Heller, B., & James, D. http://doi.org/10.7190/shu-thesis-00372

Oudshoorn, B. (2018). Development of a test method to evaluate laceration risk of studded footwear. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by James, D., Driscoll, H., & Dunn, M. http://doi.org/10.7190/shu-thesis-00090

Dunn, M.D. (2014). Video-based step measurement in sport and daily living. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Goodwill, S., Wheat, J., & Haake, S.

Media

Baig, M. (2021). The Truth About... Getting Fit at Home. [TV Programme]. BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000r7bb

Roberts, A., & McLysaght, A. (2018). 2018 Royal Institution Christmas lectures: who am I? [TV Programme]. BBC

Dunn, M. (2015). Use of goal-line technology in 2014 FIFA World Cup (BBC radio Sheffield). [Radio]. BBC Radio Sheffield

Dunn, M. (2015). Use of goal-line technology in 2014 FIFA World Cup (BBC radio Sheffield). [Radio]. BBC Radio Sheffield

Dunn, M. (2014). Use of goal-line technology in 2014 FIFA World Cup. [Radio]. KPMG

Dunn, M. (2014). Use of goal-line technology in 2014 FIFA World Cup. [Radio]. KPMG

Presentations

Dunn, M., & Allen, T. (2021). Validation of a method to assess offside technologies in dynamic movement. Presented at: 2021 FIFA Research Synergy Workshop, 2021

Dunn, M., & Allen, T. (2020). Development of dynamic test methods to evaluate offside technology accuracy​. Presented at: 2020 FIFA Research Symposium, 2021

Posters

Dimitriadis, P., Dunn, M., & Ray, J. (2017). The role of non-invasive camera technology for gait analysis in patients with vestibular disorders. Presented at: IFOS (International Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies) World Congress, Paris, France, 2017

Other publications

Hart, J., Dunn, M., & James, D. (2018). Handbook of test methods for wearable EPTS devices. FIFA: https://football-technology.fifa.com/media/171884/test-manual-epts-wearables-v1_6.pdf

Other activities

Lead Guest Editor for Topical Collection on Football Research, Sports Engineering journal.

Postgraduate supervision

Current PhD projects

  • The effect of step strategy on the biomechanics of first hurdle clearance.
  • The influence of grip position training aids on skill development of tennis strokes in junior tennis athletes.
  • The dynamic interaction between a football and surface in match play.
  • Nonlinear gait variability in young people following ACL reconstruction to inform return-to-sport.

Past supervised PhD students

  • Effects of artificial grass construction on biomechanics and perception of the player-surface interaction.
  • Development of a test method to evaluate laceration risk of studded footwear.
  • Ground Reaction Force Estimation to Assess Football Player Movement on Hybrid Turfs.

Media

Dr Marcus Dunn is a research fellow at the Centre for Sports Engineering Research. His research focuses on the development of measurement systems (software and hardware) for biomechanical and performance analysis in representative settings. Marcus has worked with international sports governing bodies, commercial companies and healthcare specialists, to develop bespoke measurement solutions, for use in more representative settings. In addition to his research, Marcus leads the MSc Sports Engineering module ‘Measurement Techniques in Sports Engineering and Biomechanics’ and supervises several PhD students.

The Centre for Sports Engineering Research (CSER) is led by Dr David James. It is the world's largest academic group in sports engineering and an internationally renowned centre of excellence for research and knowledge transfer. The centre's work is based on four research disciplines; applied computing, biomechanics, design engineering, and skill acquisition. In each area, researchers develop fundamental knowledge and deliver applied solutions to enhance athletic performance, reduce injury and promote physical activity.

CSER works in partnership with many sport, health and commercial organisations. We are immensely proud of our work with Team GB Olympic, and Paralympic athletes, and we enjoy research partnerships with global organisations such as the International Tennis Federation, FIFA, and Adidas.

Areas of expertise:

  • Sports engineering
  • Goal-line technology
  • Camera calibration
  • Biomechanics
  • Gait analysis

Notable media coverage:

  • BBC Radio Sheffield, UK
  • KPMG Early Edition, Newstalk ZB, Auckland NZ.

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