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doktorfaust
Guest
Hello People from the TT Boards. This is my first post, although I follow this Boards for a good time, so I am familiar with most of you.
I live in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and I am a College undergraduate student of Industrial Design at Minas Gerais School of Design. My main three passions in life are Product Development, Languages and Tennis. When I got into college 2 years ago, I soon discovered the field of Sports Engineering and Research, and since then I am making my way to become a Tennis Technology researcher. It is a very difficult and competitive career, but I'll strive to be involved in an activity I really enjoy and can work wholeheartedly.
Since I'm only 21 year old (will be 22 this friday 02/17), I'm not very familiar to different racquet designs of the "transition" era, the period of racquet design transformations that culminated in the replacement of wood for graphite. That era is considered by me and many great researchers to be the richest, most creative period in tennis design ever, and the frames produced that time are loved due to their actual state-of-the-art technology applied in full and their often unbeatable looks. While I know the "racquet design history 101", I lack the "empirical" side of the knowledge: I started playing in the Graphite-Titanium time, and it is a disadvantage for me not to have experienced the greatest frames of all time (and some of the worst, too).
I will graduate within two years, and my final Graduation Project will surely be an innovative racquet that follow the standards of innovation of the Transition Era; a real set of creative, evolved technology without overlooking the past. Macchiavelli always evoked the importance of studying the past to create a better future.
The main difficulty of researching Racquets in Brazil is that all the main tennis brands are from overseas. That wouldn't be much of a problem, since racquets made from european companies were always available in the USA and vice-versa. The real catch is that Brazil was a militar dictatorship from 1968 to 1989, and importing was highly restricted - - which brings my "subjects of study" population close to zero. Only very wealthy people had access to foreign frames, usually bringing them casually when returning from a trip.
That's the reason I "storm" the net looking for "subjects" to research. People that know my design goals donate me racquets. When I first get a racquet, I photograph it, measure it and conduct a little series of basic exams. Then I draw it, technically and artistically. This is only the preliminary work: after that I leave the desk and go to the courts for the real research.
Technology in sports is about feeling good, and sport equipment is (supposedly) a gear to make you enjoy a good activity without causing injuries to your body. That's what's lacking in the industry today - simplicity and honesty-driven research. I know, I'm a dreamer, but I'm surely not the only one.
Anyways, I'd like to express my gratitude for the (unbeknownst) help you guys on this board have given. Also wanted to apologize for making you guys read so much!
Best Regards,
Thiago Medeiros DeCastro Silva
P.S.: As for my Nickname: My pediatrist was called Dr. Fausto. He Prescribed me Tennis when I was young. I have always appreciated the play "Faust" by Goethe, and adopted this nickname in my teens. I see now, very appropriated... madly in love with science...
I live in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and I am a College undergraduate student of Industrial Design at Minas Gerais School of Design. My main three passions in life are Product Development, Languages and Tennis. When I got into college 2 years ago, I soon discovered the field of Sports Engineering and Research, and since then I am making my way to become a Tennis Technology researcher. It is a very difficult and competitive career, but I'll strive to be involved in an activity I really enjoy and can work wholeheartedly.
Since I'm only 21 year old (will be 22 this friday 02/17), I'm not very familiar to different racquet designs of the "transition" era, the period of racquet design transformations that culminated in the replacement of wood for graphite. That era is considered by me and many great researchers to be the richest, most creative period in tennis design ever, and the frames produced that time are loved due to their actual state-of-the-art technology applied in full and their often unbeatable looks. While I know the "racquet design history 101", I lack the "empirical" side of the knowledge: I started playing in the Graphite-Titanium time, and it is a disadvantage for me not to have experienced the greatest frames of all time (and some of the worst, too).
I will graduate within two years, and my final Graduation Project will surely be an innovative racquet that follow the standards of innovation of the Transition Era; a real set of creative, evolved technology without overlooking the past. Macchiavelli always evoked the importance of studying the past to create a better future.
The main difficulty of researching Racquets in Brazil is that all the main tennis brands are from overseas. That wouldn't be much of a problem, since racquets made from european companies were always available in the USA and vice-versa. The real catch is that Brazil was a militar dictatorship from 1968 to 1989, and importing was highly restricted - - which brings my "subjects of study" population close to zero. Only very wealthy people had access to foreign frames, usually bringing them casually when returning from a trip.
That's the reason I "storm" the net looking for "subjects" to research. People that know my design goals donate me racquets. When I first get a racquet, I photograph it, measure it and conduct a little series of basic exams. Then I draw it, technically and artistically. This is only the preliminary work: after that I leave the desk and go to the courts for the real research.
Technology in sports is about feeling good, and sport equipment is (supposedly) a gear to make you enjoy a good activity without causing injuries to your body. That's what's lacking in the industry today - simplicity and honesty-driven research. I know, I'm a dreamer, but I'm surely not the only one.
Anyways, I'd like to express my gratitude for the (unbeknownst) help you guys on this board have given. Also wanted to apologize for making you guys read so much!
Best Regards,
Thiago Medeiros DeCastro Silva
P.S.: As for my Nickname: My pediatrist was called Dr. Fausto. He Prescribed me Tennis when I was young. I have always appreciated the play "Faust" by Goethe, and adopted this nickname in my teens. I see now, very appropriated... madly in love with science...
