The UMass Lowell Baseball Research Center (UMLBRC) gives graduate students at the master and doctoral levels opportunities to apply their technical expertise to an engineering thesis in the area of sports engineering. Some of the completed thesis topics have included modeling of the bat ball collision in finite element software, testing for the performance effects from using an aluminum baseball bat, identifying a correlation between vibrational modes and the sweet spot and a comparison of Japanese bat testing standards to those used in the U.S.
Capstone senior design projects have also been sponsored by the UMLBRC as an option for graduating seniors. Some projects have included a high-speed air cannon for firing baseballs at speeds up to 180 mph, a calibration device for a hitting machine, and an auxiliary humidification system.
The UMLBRC also employs undergraduate mechanical engineering students ranging from freshmen to seniors to assist with the lab’s testing, research and design improvements.